Tafseer of The City · Al-Balad · 90:10
And have shown him the two ways?
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 words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ) (And We have shown him the two ways): the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: and We have shown him the two ways. A najd is a road that runs upward.
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over its meaning. Some said: by this is meant the way of good and the way of evil, as He has said: إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا (We have shown him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful).
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: good and evil.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, something similar.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Mundhir, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, he said: they are not the two breasts.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us; and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿImrān related to us — both on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Zirr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: the way of good and the way of evil.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: ʿĀṣim informed me, saying: I heard Abū Wāʾil say: ʿAbd Allāh said concerning ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ): the way of good and the way of evil.
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 words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he says: right guidance and error.
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 ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he says: the way of good and evil.
Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: good and evil.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, on the authority of Abū Burda, he said: al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym passed by us, and we asked him about this verse: ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), whereupon he said: indeed, they are not the two breasts.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: good and evil.
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 words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: the way of good and evil.
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 words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ): the way of good and the way of evil.
ʿImrān ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "They are two ways: a way of good and a way of evil. And the way of evil has not been made more beloved to you than the way of good."
Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAṭiyya Abū Wahb informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed, they are two ways: the way of good and the way of evil. And the way of evil has not been made more beloved to you than the way of good."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, he said: I heard al-Ḥasan say concerning ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: it was related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "O people, indeed, they are the two ways: the way of good and the way of evil. And the way of evil has not been made more beloved to you than the way of good."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ): it was related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: "O people, indeed, they are the two ways: the way of good and the way of evil. And the way of evil has not been made more beloved to you than the way of good."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: the Prophet ﷺ said: "Indeed, they are two ways, and the way of evil has not been made more beloved to you than the way of good."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the words of Allah: ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ): the parting of the ways of good and evil. And he recited the words of Allah: إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ (We have shown him the way).
Others said: rather, its meaning is: and We have shown him the two breasts — the two ways of the milk by which he is fed and upon which his flesh and body grow.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn ʿAqqāl related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ), he said: they are the two breasts.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of al-Mubārak ibn Mujāhid, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: the two breasts.
The most correct of the two statements concerning this, in our judgment, is: the statement of whoever said that by it is meant the way of good and evil. That is because we know of no statement concerning it other than the two that we have mentioned. And although the two breasts are indeed the two ways of the milk, yet it holds: when Allah, whose praise is mentioned, enumerated to the servant His favors with His words إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الإِنْسَانَ مِنْ نُطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا * إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ (We created man from a mingled drop to test him, and We made him hearing and seeing * We have shown him the way), He enumerated to him, as part of His favors, only His guidance of him to the way of good. So it is likewise with His words ( وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ ).
