Tafseer of The Splitting Open · Al-Inshiqaaq · 84:2
And has responded to its Lord and was obligated [to do so]
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 statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"). He says: and the heavens listened, as they burst apart and were torn open, to their Lord, and they obeyed Him in what He commanded them. The Arabs say: "adhina laka fī hādhā al-amri adhanan," with the meaning: "he listened to you." To this belongs also the report (khabar) related on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ: "Allah has not listened to anything as He has listened to a prophet who recites the Qurʾān melodiously" — by which he means: Allah has not listened to anything as He listens to a prophet who recites the Qurʾān melodiously. To this belongs also the words of the poet:
Deaf are they when they hear something good by which I am mentioned, but when I am mentioned among them with something evil, then they listen eagerly (1).
The origin of their expression for obedience, "samiʿa lahu" (he listened to him), comes from "al-istimāʿ" (the listening). One says of it: "samiʿtu laka," with the meaning: I listened to your word, and I obeyed in what you said and commanded.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning the meaning of His statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا ("and it gives ear to its Lord"), the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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 statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"), he said: it listened to its Lord.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"), he said: it listened and obeyed.
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 statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"), he said: it listened.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"), he said: it listened and obeyed.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"): that is, it listened and obeyed.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement: وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ ("and it gives ear to its Lord, as it must"), he said: it listened and obeyed.
And His statement: وَحُقَّتْ ("as it must"). He says: and Allah made listening obligatory upon it, through the tearing open and the attainment of obedience to Him therein.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning it, the interpreters have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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 statement: وَحُقَّتْ ("as it must"), he said: it was obligated to obedience to its Lord.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: وَحُقَّتْ ("as it must"): and it is made obligatory upon it (and it is obligated thereto).
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Footnotes:
(1) The verse is by Qaʿnab ibn Umm Ṣāḥib (al-Lisān: a-dh-n); before it another verse is cited, namely:
When they hear a slander, they fly off with it in joy about me, and what good they knew of me, they buried.
"Adhina lahu adhanan": he listened; the proof of that is the verse of Qaʿnab. And in the report it states: "Allah has not listened to anything as He listens to a prophet who recites the Qurʾān melodiously" — that is, who recites it aloud. And Abū ʿUbayda said in Majāz al-Qurʾān (186): وأذنت لربها , "adhinat": it listened.
