And when He, glorified and exalted is He, informed of his destruction in this confirmed manner, it was because the owner of the story and others among the disbelievers were denying it by the state of their condition and their words due to what they had of wealth and children, and what they were in of strength by number and resources. The matter became more certain by informing that worldly conditions are of no benefit. So he said, informing or questioning in denial, "What has availed?" meaning, "What has compensated and replaced for him?" "From him," meaning, "from Abu Lahab, the wretched, the outcast, removed from mercy along with punishment. "His wealth," meaning, "the great wealth which it was customary that it would save from destruction."

And when earning is more general than wealth, and wealth can earn benefits that are greater than it, such as honor and others, and a person may be successful without having wealth in matters that are outside of wealth, he means by saying that nothing is beneficial except what Allah has commanded. "And what he has earned" means even if that is in a magnificent way through children, friends, and honor with his tribe, which he would please by following the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in gatherings where he would harm him, deny him, and prevent people from believing in him, even though he had previously called him the truthful and trustworthy. And his son, 'Utbah, was a great harm to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, until the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said, "O Allah, unleash upon him a dog from Your dogs." Abu Lahab knew that this call would inevitably reach him. So when the matter was imminent and the time had come for the one of lofty honor, he caused him to travel to Sham, and his father entrusted him to the companions to save him despite this call. They would keep watch over him when he slept to ensure he was among them, while the burdens surrounded him and they were surrounding the burdens, and the riders were surrounding them. But that did not benefit him; rather, the lion came and sniffed the people until it reached him and tore off his head, and that did not benefit his father. Rather, he continued in his misguidance due to what was known in the knowledge of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, until the Battle of Badr occurred, and he did not go out in it. When the elephants came, among them was his nephew, Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith, who said, "Come, O nephew, for you have the news." He said, "Yes! By Allah, it was only that we met them and we offered them our backs, and they did with us as they wished, and captured us as they wished. And with that, by Allah, I was tired of the people; we met white men on spotted horses between the sky and the earth, and nothing could withstand them. Abu Rafi', the servant of Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, may Allah be pleased with him, was sitting in a chamber in the mosque sharpening arrows. Islam had entered us, the people of the house, and we were concealing our Islam. I could not help but say, "By Allah, those are the angels." Abu Lahab raised his hand and struck my face with a severe blow. He then seized me and threw me to the ground, then he mounted me and struck me, and I was a weak man. The mother of al-Fadl, meaning his mistress, the wife of Abbas, may Allah be pleased with her, went to the pillar of the chamber, meaning the tent, and struck him with it, causing a severe wound to his head. She said, "You have weakened him, O enemy of Allah, if his master is absent from him." He stood up, retreating in humiliation, and by Allah, he did not live except for seven nights or six until Allah struck him with the 'adasa and killed him. And his distancing from danger by his absence from Badr did not benefit him. The 'adasa is a sore that resembles the lentil, which appears in places of the body from the type of plague that usually kills. Al-Qazzaz said: It was known in the days of ignorance; rarely does anyone escape from it. They say: "The man has been lentiled," meaning he is afflicted, just as they say: "He has been stabbed," if he is struck by the plague.

And because of the Arabs' pessimism regarding him, Abu Lahab was left unburied for three days. Then they hired some Sudanese to bury him. It is said that they dug a pit far from him due to the intensity of his stench. Then they pushed him with long pieces of wood until they threw him in it and stoned him with stones and dirt from a distance until they covered him. This became a practice in stoning him, so he is still stoned to this day. And this was one of the first miracles of these verses, as it was a disgrace among the Arabs, without anything being able to benefit him from what he thought would benefit him.