(p-327) Surah Al-Masad

Its purpose is the decisive cutting off of the certain loss of the disbeliever, even if he is the closest of creation to the greatest of the winners. It is necessary to affirm that the Lawgiver of the religion has such greatness that description falls short of it. He does what He wills because there is no equivalent to Him at all. This is an encouragement towards monotheism from all the servants. Therefore, it is mentioned between Surah Al-Ikhlas, which affirms the guarantee of victory and the multitude of supporters. Its name, Al-Masad, clearly indicates this by reflecting on the Surah in this manner: 'In the name of Allah, the Compeller, the Majestic, the Misleader, the Guide; 'the Most Gracious' who has bestowed the blessing of clarity upon both the ally and the enemy after honoring them with existence; 'the Most Merciful' who has specifically granted success to the people of affection.

* * When He, glorified and exalted is He, presented in Surah Al-Nasr the decisive affirmation of victory for the people of this religion after they had been in humiliation, and the certain matter of their increase after what had passed over them with humiliation from scarcity, He concluded it by stating that He is the Accepting of Repentance. Abu Lahab, due to his extreme obstinacy towards this religion and his harm to the leadership of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, the master of the worlds, despite his closeness to him, was in a position that is not unknown, rather it became widespread and well-known, and he burned the hearts (p-328) and was a relative. He was in a state where he would ask about his condition at that time whether he would be established upon it or humiliated. This question healed the malice of this inquiry, and he was removed from what would be [for him] of punishment, so that this could be [after the occurrence of] the victory and the descent of triumph and victory, and the manifestation over the enemies with honor and subjugation, reminding him, blessings and peace be upon him, of what was at the beginning of the matter from their tyranny and their harm and their strength in number and equipment, and that nothing of that had availed them. Rather, Allah fulfilled His promise in His saying, glorified and exalted is He, 'Say to those who disbelieve, you will be defeated and gathered to Hell, and wretched is the resting place' [Al-Imran: 12]. They denied what they were in of mutual support, alliance, and contracts. So, He, exalted is He, mentioned their enemies to him and those closest to him in kinship, indicating that there is no difference in their denial of him between the near and the far. And that his closeness to him did not benefit him to make that a reason for the people of the religion to strive in action without relying on a cause or kinship other than what He, glorified is He, has legislated. So, He, exalted is He, expressed in the past tense as an indication that the matter has been decided and completed, so there must be its occurrence and there is no escape: 'Al-Masad' means the greatest and most complete cutting off has occurred, for indeed, she has failed and lost to the utmost degree of loss, and it is the one leading to destruction because there is no salvation except the salvation of the Hereafter. He made the address of this Surah from Allah and did not begin it with 'Say' like its sisters because this is more (p-329) polite and more fitting in the realm of excuse and more appropriate in considering the relatives. Therefore, He did not repeat its mention in the Qur'an, and it is more severe in Allah's support, glorified and exalted is He, [for him, blessings and peace be upon him] and closer to instilling fear and permitting the quick occurrence.

And when the hand is the place of man's power, if it becomes impaired, his affairs become impaired. So how if the impairment occurs in both of his hands? He said, indicating by the duality to the generality of his destruction, that his strength did not benefit him at all. This is because the duality is expressed to refer to the self. He also indicated by the nickname, although it is usually brought for honor, to the correspondence of his name to his condition and its similarity that necessitates the greatness of his punishment: ﴿The hands of Abu Lahab﴾. So he has no power over giving or withholding, nor over bringing or repelling. This indicates that the beauty of his form did not benefit him at all from the ugliness of his conduct, as he said ﷺ, "Indeed, Allah does not look at your forms or your wealth, but He looks at your hearts and your deeds."

This is because he was nicknamed this due to the brightness of his face and the intensity of his cheeks, and because it is more famous. The expression by it is stronger and more evident, and the expression by it - while being clearer - is more fitting in the saying that is better. This is because his name is 'Abd al-Uzza', which is an ugly name that necessitates abandoning it out of jealousy for servitude not to be attributed to someone other than its rightful owner.

And Imam Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr said: This surah, even if it was revealed for a specific reason and in a known story, is with what preceded it and is connected to it in strength, that if it were said: Your life has come to an end, O Muhammad, and what you were entrusted with of the great trust of the message has concluded, and you have fulfilled what you were burdened with, and your time has come, and the sign of that is the entry of people into the religion of Allah in crowds, and their responding after their hesitation, and woe to whoever opposed you and deviated from following you, even if he was the closest of people to you. For the surah ﴿Say, O disbelievers﴾ [al-Kafirun: 1] has separated between your allies and your enemies, and it has clarified the ruling of those who followed you from those who opposed you. For this reason, it was named by him, blessings and peace be upon him, the one that clears from hypocrisy, and so that the disbelievers of Quraysh and others may know that there is no refuge for anyone from the Fire except by faith, and that kinship is of no benefit and does not avail anything except with faith: ﴿For you is your religion, and for me is my religion﴾ [al-Kafirun: 6] ﴿You are disavowed from what I do, and I am disavowed from what you do﴾ [Yunus: 41] ﴿And the believing men and the believing women are allies of one another﴾ [al-Tawbah: 71]. And here the book has concluded in its entirety - it has ended.

And when it was perhaps that destruction was specifically for the doomed, and it was directed towards the destruction of the hands in reality, and that man does not lose all his benefit by the loss of his hands, even if it may be expressed by them to refer to the self, he stated clearly the intended meaning: ﴿And perish﴾. That is, he is entirely in complete destruction and loss. Thus, he confirmed by this what was intended by the reference to the hands (p-331) as a metaphor for the destruction that there is no survival after it. It appears that the first is a supplication and the second is a report, and by this he understood that belonging to the righteous does not benefit unless there is adherence to them in their actions, because he is the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ.

The root of 'tabba' and 'batta' - the gathering is with the gathering of the 'taa' and 'baa' for the two reasons, the lower inner and the higher outer - revolves around cutting, which in most of its cases leads to destruction. This is because whoever cuts off from the causes while turning away from their cause is in the greatest ruin. Perhaps the cutting is by gathering the causes, and thus the deficiency occurs in the intentions and desires. Ibn Makhtum said regarding the gathering between the definitive and the abundant: 'Tabb' and 'tabb' mean loss, and 'tabban' for him - in supplication, and 'tabba tabbaan' - for exaggeration. Imam Abu Abdullah Al-Qazzaz said: It is as if you said: 'A loss for him,' which is the source, and it was set in the accusative case for him. Ibn Durayd said: And it is as if 'tabb' is the source and 'tabb' is the name, and [tabab and -] [tibb and -] 'tabib' means destruction, and 'tatbib' means deficiency and loss. All of this is clear in cutting off from good and success. He said: [And] 'tabb' is the great one among men, and the female is 'tabbah.' Al-Qazzaz said: If you ask a man about a woman, you say: 'Is she a shabbah or a tabbah?' meaning, is she [she is -] an old woman who is fading. [And -] it is known that old age is close to cutting off and destruction. And 'tabb' means the weak, and the plural is 'atabab' - a Hadhaliyya, and a donkey (p-332) 'tabb' of the back - if it is weak, and 'jamal' [tabb -] likewise is rare. And there is no doubt that weakness and the back are destruction in meaning.

And Tabba: it means to cut, like in the word 'batta', that is, by the precedence of the monotheist. They fell into a state of denial, which is in a state of severity. And the tabii - with the opening and the kasra: it is a type of date from the two seas. It is said to be poor quality, eaten by the refuse of people. And Allah weakened his strength: He made it weak. And Tababbuhum tabbiban: they destroyed them. And Tabtaba: he aged. All of this is clear in the cutting of destruction and loss. And Tabawwub means by the gathering: [what -] the ribs encompass, like the chest and the heart. This can imply good and evil. For when the heart is corrupted, the entire body is corrupted. And when it is righteous, the entire body is righteous. At that time, the cutting will be by success and salvation, or because the encompassing of the ribs upon it is a cutting off from the outside. And the matter became established: it prepared and became upright. And Al-Qazzaz said: It is said: this ailment does not establish itself in the parallels of this saying, meaning it does not occur in its parallels. As if it is from the realm of removal, since the 's' when it combines with the letter of the two causes indicates success and victory [and prosperity -]. For it is a letter that indicates fulfillment in informing about something, completion, and connection. And better than this is that when it occurs in parallels, it clarifies them and reveals their meanings, thus separating them and making them distinct from other parallels by removing the confusion with it. What confirms the meanings of destruction and shows (p-333) that it leads to cutting is its opposite, which is the cutting - by the precedence of the monotheist, which is the apparent cause that is stronger in that it cannot be realized except by the perfection of the hidden cause. It is said: 'Batta' something means to cut it off completely. And 'Abattahu' means He cut it off completely. And 'Batta' he cuts and 'Bayyatta' it means to cut off completely, and 'Anbatta'. Perhaps the simple and the additional are equal in indicating that what occurred with the simple cutting is of perfection in that there is no more to it. Likewise, the short form is equal, whether it is simple or compliant with the transitive in the original meaning. And he confirmed it with a clear cutting: a clear separation from whoever accompanies it. And he divorced her three times completely and absolutely, meaning a cutting with no return in it, and I do not do it at all - as if he cut off his action. Sibawayh said: And they said: he sat the absolute - a confirmed source, and it is not used except with the 'alif' and 'lam'. And the judgment cut him off completely and 'Abattahu': He cut him off. And a drunken person does not cut speech and what is cut off means [what -] he cuts it. Al-Qazzaz said: 'Yabuttu' is from 'Abatta', and 'Yabuttu' is from 'Batta'. And a drunken person is one who is cut off from work due to intoxication. And 'Abatta' his oath: he fulfilled it, meaning he cut it off from sinning. And it became obligatory and permissible completely and absolutely, and all of this is from cutting. And he cut off his camel, meaning he made it cut off by traveling. And the 'manbat' in the hadith: [the one -] who exhausted his mount until its back broke, thus remaining cut off by it. And Al-Qazzaz said: it is the one who exhausted his mount until it broke its back, thus remaining cut off by it, meaning cut off by it. And he cut off the testimony against him and 'Abattaha': he cut it off against him with it and obligated him to it. And the judgment cut him off [the judgment -] and 'Abattahu': He cut him off. And the 'bat' is the weak one who cannot stand - as if his strength has been cut off. And in the hadith, 'There is no fasting for one who does not cut off the fast from the night.'

So its meaning is: it makes it obligatory, that is, he cuts it off from himself before dawn, from the one who has made the judgment - if he cuts it off. It has been narrated: he cuts off, from [the root] قطع - if he cuts. Both meanings are the same, and they are two eloquent dialects. It has been narrated in the hadith of 'whoever does not cut off' from the night dwelling, and a foolish person is one who is severely foolish - thus said Al-Layth, and Al-Azhari said: he is a tab - with the delay of the singular. And the cutting off: it is a thick, loose, square green garment, and it is said: it is made of hair and wool, and the plural is بُتُوتٍ. And البَتاتُ, meaning with the lightening: it is the household goods and provisions, as if that cuts off its owner from need. And I cut him off: I provided him, or that it is from removal because it is a connection for its owner and a support because the inference is that every material has a predominant meaning that revolves around it, and in it is something for the removal of that meaning. And so-and-so is on the cutting off of a matter - if he is nearing its end, then he cuts off at that time. And you say: I ground with the mill a cutting off - if you began the grinding from your left, as if it indicates cutting off with complete determination because that is stronger for the grinder and more effective. And the man cut off: the water of his back has ceased. And it is said: this is a cutting rope - if it is a single strand, as if when it is like that, it is easy to cut, he has exaggerated the cutting like عدل. And so-and-so has cut off from so-and-so - if he has severed and withdrawn.