Tafseer of The Emissaries · Al-Mursalaat · 77:30
Proceed to a shadow [of smoke] having three columns
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.
انْطَلِقُوا إِلَى ظِلٍّ ذِي ثَلاثِ شُعَبٍ ("Go off to a shadow with three branches"). He — exalted is His praise — means: to the shadow of a smoke with three branches, لا ظَلِيلٍ ("which gives no coolness"). That is because from its fuel the smoke rises, as has been mentioned, and when it rises, it splits into three branches; that is His word: ذِي ثَلاثِ شُعَبٍ ("with three branches").
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: إِلَى ظِلٍّ ذِي ثَلاثِ شُعَبٍ , he said: the smoke of hell (jahannam).
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: ظِلٍّ ذِي ثَلاثِ شُعَبٍ , he said: it is like His word: نَارًا أَحَاطَ بِهِمْ سُرَادِقُهَا ("a Fire whose wall encompasses them"). He said: and the "surādiq" is the smoke of the Fire, and its wall encompassed them; then it split, so that it became three branches, and He said: go off to a shadow with three branches: a branch this way, a branch that way, and a branch yonder.
