Tafseer of The Emissaries · Al-Mursalaat · 77:3
And [by] the winds that spread [clouds]
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.
His saying: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"). The exegetes differ regarding the interpretation of this. Some of them said: by "those that scatter, scattering" the wind is meant.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of al-Masʿūdī, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Abū al-ʿUbaydayn, that he asked Ibn Masʿūd about النَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("those that scatter, scattering"); he said: the wind.
Khallād ibn Aslam related to us, saying: al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl informed us, saying: al-Masʿūdī informed us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Abū al-ʿUbaydayn, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, the like of that.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Abū al-ʿUbaydayn, he said: I asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and he mentioned the like of that.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of Muslim al-Baṭīn, on the authority of Abū al-ʿUbaydayn, he said: I asked ʿAbd Allāh, and he mentioned the like of that.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"), he said: the wind.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Ismāʿīl al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ the companion of al-Kalbī, concerning His saying: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"), he said: they are the winds.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"), he said: the winds.
And others said: it is the rain.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bayān related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, he said: I asked Abū Ṣāliḥ about His saying: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"), he said: the rain.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"), he said: it is the rain.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, the like of that.
And others said: no, they are the angels who scatter the scriptures.
* Mention of who said that:
Aḥmad ibn Hishām related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: وَالنَّاشِرَاتِ نَشْرًا ("By those that scatter, scattering"), he said: the angels who scatter the scriptures.
The most correct of the statements regarding this, according to us, is that one says: Allah, exalted is His mention, has sworn by those that scatter, scattering, and He has not singled out anything in particular among them to the exclusion of anything else. The wind scatters the clouds, the rain causes the earth to bring forth vegetation (scatters), and the angels scatter the scriptures, and there is no indication by any avenue to which one must submit that by this one of these is meant to the exclusion of the others. This therefore applies to everything that scatters.
