Tafseer of The City · Al-Balad · 90:14
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger
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: أَوْ أَطْعَمَ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("or fed on a day of famine").
He says: or fed on a day of famine. Al-sāghib is the hungry one.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of those 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: أو أطْعَمَ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("or fed on a day of famine"): a day of famine.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Khālid ibn Ḥayyān al-Raqqī Abū Yazīd related to me, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the statement of Allah أو أطْعَمَ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("or fed on a day of famine"), he said: of famine.
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: فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("on a day of famine"), he said: hunger.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: أو أطْعَمَ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("or fed on a day of famine"), he says: a day on which food is longed for.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿUthmān al-Thaqafī, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("on a day of famine"), he said: famine.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.
It has been related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His statement: فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ ("on a day of famine"), he said: famine.
