Tafseer of The City · Al-Balad · 90:16
Or a needy person in misery
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 saying: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ ("or a needy one cleaving to the dust") (90:16). The exegetes differ over the interpretation of His word ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ . Some of them say: by this is meant the one who is cleaving to the dust (turāb).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, saying: al-Mughīra informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who has no shelter except the dust.
Muṭarrif ibn Muḥammad al-Ḍabbī related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the word of Allah: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who covers himself with nothing other than the dust.
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who has no shelter except the dust.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to me, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who has no shelter except the dust.
He said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the needy one; the one who is cast down in the dust.
Abū Ḥuṣayn related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Yūnus related to us, saying: ʿAbthar related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who is protected by nothing against the dust.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn and al-Mughīra both related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ : it is the one who, through the severity of poverty, is cleaving to the dust.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Abī Qays, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the dust that is cast down on the road, on the dung-heap.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: it is the needy one who is cast down in the dust on the road.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Mujāhid: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who is cast down on the ground, who is protected by nothing other than the dust.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: it is the one who is cleaving to the ground, nothing protects him against the dust.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn and ʿUthmān ibn al-Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who has nothing that protects him against the dust.
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, his word: ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: fallen down in the dust.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Burqān, saying: he heard ʿIkrima: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the one who, through need, is cleaving to the ground.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: the dust that cleaves to the ground.
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 Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the one who is cast down on the road, who has no house except the dust.
Others said: rather it is the needy one, whether he is cleaving to the dust or not; and they said: it is only derived from their saying "tariba al-rajul": when a person becomes poor.
* Mention of who said that:
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 word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he says: in severe need.
Hannād ibn al-Sarī related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: it is the destitute one (muḥāraf) who has no property.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: a needy one; "al-tarib" is the needy one.
Others said: rather it is the one with a large brood of children who, through misery and severe need, has come to cleave to the dust.
* 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: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he says: a needy one with sons and family members, between whom and you there is no kinship.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīra, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — he said: someone with family members.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — we used to relate that "al-tarib" is the one with family members who possesses nothing.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — someone with family members who, through poverty and destitution, are cleaving to the ground.
The correct of these statements is the statement of the one who said: by this is meant: or a needy one who, through poverty and need, has come to cleave to the dust; for that is the most obvious of its meanings. And His word مَتْرَبَةٍ is only a "mafʿala" form of "tariba al-rajul": when the dust afflicts him.
