Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:32
And [remember] when they said, "O Allah, if this should be the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky or bring us a painful punishment."
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: En toen zij zeiden: O Allah, indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, laat dan stenen uit de hemel op ons regenen, of breng ons een pijnlijke bestraffing (8:32).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted says, exalted be His remembrance: Remember also, O Muḥammad, that which befell the one who said: "O Allah, if this is the Truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful chastisement," when He struck them with a stratagem and brought upon them a painful chastisement (ʿadhāb). And that chastisement was their death by the sword on the day of Badr.
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And it is also reported concerning this verse that it was revealed concerning al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith.
* Mention of those who said that:
15981 - Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Hushaym related to us, he said: Abū Bishr related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His saying: En toen zij zeiden: O Allah, indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, laat dan stenen uit de hemel op ons regenen, he said: It was revealed concerning al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith.
15982 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, he said: It is the saying of al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith = or: Ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kalada.
15983 - Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: O Allah, indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, it is the saying of al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAlqama ibn Kalada, of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār.
15984 - ......he said: Isḥāq informed us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh informed us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, he said: It is al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Kalada.
15985 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, he said: A man of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār, who was called al-Naḍr ibn Kalada, said: "O Allah, if this is the Truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful chastisement." Then Allah said: En zij zeiden: Onze Heer, haast voor ons ons aandeel vóór de Dag der Afrekening (Surah Ṣād: 16), and He said: En voorwaar, jullie zijn tot Ons gekomen, alleen, zoals Wij jullie de eerste keer schiepen (Surah Al-Anʿām: 94), and He said: Een vrager vroeg om een bestraffing die zal vallen * voor de ongelovigen (kāfirīn) (Surah Al-Maʿārij: 1-2). ʿAṭāʾ said: Concerning him more than ten verses from the Book of Allah were revealed.
15986 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: He said = that is, al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith =: O Allah, if what Muḥammad says is the Truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful chastisement! Allah said: Een vrager vroeg om een bestraffing die zal vallen * voor de ongelovigen (kāfirīn).
15987 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, the verse, he said: Een vrager vroeg om een bestraffing die zal vallen * voor de ongelovigen (kāfirīn).
15988 - Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: En toen zij zeiden: O Allah, indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, the verse, he said: That is what the foolish and the ignorant of this community said. But Allah turned back with His benevolence and His mercy to the foolish and the ignorant of this community.
15989 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: Then He mentioned the heedless delusion of Quraysh and their calling for a judgment against themselves, when they said: O Allah, indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is, that is: that which Muḥammad has brought = laat dan stenen uit de hemel op ons regenen, as You rained them down upon the people of Lūṭ = of breng ons een pijnlijke bestraffing, that is: with a portion of that with which You chastised the nations before us.
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The scholars of the Arabic language differed concerning the manner in which "huwa" (he/it) is included in the sentence.
Some of the Basran linguists said: "al-ḥaqq" (the Truth) is in the accusative, because "huwa" — and Allah knows best — is conveyed as an addition in the sentence, as an emphatic connective, like the addition of "mā". And it is only added with every verb that cannot do without a predicate, and it is not an adjectival qualifier of "hādhā" (this), for if you were to say: "I saw this he," it would not be a well-formed sentence. And this hidden pronoun is not a qualifier of the expressed pronoun, but rather it is a qualifier of the hidden pronoun, as in His saying: maar zij waren juist de onrechtplegers (al-ẓālimīn) (Surah Al-Zukhruf: 76), and goeds, dan zullen jullie het bij Allah aantreffen — beter en geweldiger in beloning (Surah Al-Muzzammil: 20).
For you say: "I found him, he and myself," whereby "huwa" becomes a qualifier.
And in this sense it also cannot be a qualifier, but rather an addition, as it was in the first case. And in all these cases it can take the position of a noun, so that what comes after it is in the nominative, whether it be an expressed or a hidden noun, in the language of the Banū Tamīm. They say regarding His saying: indien dit de Waarheid van bij U is: "maar zij waren juist de onrechtplegers (al-ẓālimūn, in the nominative)," and "dan zullen jullie het bij Allah aantreffen — het is beter en geweldiger in beloning (khayrun, in the nominative)," as you say: "their fathers were the wrongdoers." They have made this hidden pronoun such as "huwa," "humā," and "anta" an addition in this place, and have not made it occupy the position of a qualifier, because it is a separating element (faṣl) by which one wishes to show that what comes after it is not a qualifier of what comes before it. And this was not necessary in the place where there is no predicate for it.
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And some of the Kufan linguists said: "huwa," which is the support (ʿimād) in the sentence, is only inserted for a valid meaning. And he said: It is as if he said: "Zayd is standing," whereupon you then say: "No, ʿAmr is the one who is standing." So "huwa" refers to the known noun, and the "alif-lām" (the definite article) refers to the known verb (predicate), [while "the alif-lām"] which is a connective in the sentence, departs from the meaning of "huwa," because its entering and departing are equal in the sentence. Such, however, "huwa" is not. And as for that which enters as a connective in the sentence, that is an emphasis, comparable to their saying: "I found him himself," which you say, while it is not a qualifier like "the kind one" and "the sensible one."
