Tafseer of Man · Al-Insaan · 76:10
Indeed, We fear from our Lord a Day austere and distressful."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted says, informing about this people whose quality He has described, that they say to those whom they feed — namely the needy and the poor: we do not feed you this food in order to seek from you any recompense for our feeding, neither requital nor thanks; no, we feed you in the hope on our part that our Lord will preserve us from His punishment on a day whose terror is severe and whose matter is tremendous — a day on which the faces will become gloomy because of the severity of its calamities, and on which the trial of its inhabitants is long and severe. Al-qamṭarīr means: the severe. One says: it is a day that is qamṭarīr, or a day that is qumāṭir, or a day that is ʿaṣīb (heavy), or ʿaṣabṣab; and one says: iqmaṭarra al-yawmu, yaqmaṭirru, iqmiṭrāran. That is the most severe of days and the longest in trial and severity. Among that is the saying of one of them:
"O sons of our uncle, do you remember our exertion for you, when there was a day that was qumāṭir?" (4)
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation have spoken, with mutual difference in the wording of its meaning. Some of them said: it is that one of them looks so gloomy that he draws together the area between his eyes, until something flows out from between his eyes like tar.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn Salām al-Tamīmī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: ʿabūsan qamṭarīran; he said: the unbeliever looks so gloomy on that day that sweat flows from between his eyes like tar.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Hārūn ibn ʿAntara, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: Yawman ʿabūsan qamṭarīran; he said: al-qamṭarīr is the one who draws together the area between his eyes.
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt related to us, saying: Abū Kudayna related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about His word: qamṭarīran; he said: the drawing together of the area between the two eyes.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hārūn ibn ʿAntara, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: Yawman ʿabūsan qamṭarīran; he said: the drawing together of the area between the two eyes.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: Innā nakhāfu min rabbinā yawman ʿabūsan qamṭarīran; he said: a day on which the man draws together the area between his eyes and his face.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: Innā nakhāfu min rabbinā yawman ʿabūsan qamṭarīran; the faces become gloomy on it, and they draw together the area between their eyes out of aversion to that day.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: qamṭarīran; he said: the foreheads are drawn together on it. And some people say: al-qamṭarīr is the severe.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hārūn ibn ʿAntara, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the drawing together of the area between the two eyes.
He said: and Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Dharr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: it is the drawing together of the area between his eyes.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: al-qamṭarīr is what comes out of their foreheads like tar, and flows over their faces.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: qamṭarīran; he said: the drawing together of the face out of gloominess.
Others said: al-ʿabūs means: the distressing, and al-qamṭarīr: the long.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: ʿabūsan; he says: distressing. And His word: qamṭarīran; he says: long.
And others said: al-qamṭarīr is the severe.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning: Innā nakhāfu min rabbinā yawman ʿabūsan qamṭarīran; he said: al-ʿabūs is the evil, and al-qamṭarīr is the severe.
