'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Takathur

And it is Meccan; I do not know of any disagreement regarding it.

His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Alhakum al-takathur﴾ ﴿Hatta zur'tum al-maqabir﴾ ﴿Kalla sawfa ta'lamun﴾ ﴿Thumma kalla sawfa ta'lamun﴾ ﴿Kalla law ta'lamun 'ilm al-yaqeen﴾ ﴿Latarawunna al-jahim﴾ ﴿Thumma latarawunnaha 'ayn al-yaqeen﴾ ﴿Thumma latus'alunna yawma idhin 'an al-na'eem﴾

"Alhakum" means: it occupied you with its pleasures. And from it is "lahw al-hadith wa al-aswat" and lahw with women. And this is a report in which there is reprimand, blame, and regret. Ibn Abbas and Abu Imran al-Jawni and Abu Salih read: "Alhakum" as a question.

And "al-takathur" is boasting with wealth, children, and numbers in general. This is the cry of the people of this world and their children, Arabs and others. No one is free from it except the righteous scholars. And Al-A'sha said:

I am not among the most numerous of them like pebbles, but rather, honor is for the one who has more.

And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The son of Adam says: My wealth, my wealth, and do you have from your wealth except what you have eaten and consumed, or worn and worn out, or given in charity and sent forth?"

And the interpreters have differed regarding the meaning of His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿Hatta zur'tum al-maqabir﴾. Some of them said: Until you mentioned the dead in your boasting about your fathers and ancestors, and you have increased with the decayed bones. Others said: The meaning is: Until you died and visited your graves with your bodies, meaning you have cut short your lives with boasting. And on this interpretation, it has been narrated that an Arab heard this verse and said: The people have been resurrected for the Day of Judgment, by the Lord of the Ka'bah, for the visitor returns and does not remain. And Al-Naqqash narrated this inclination from Umar ibn Abdul Aziz. Others said: This is a reprimand for the excessive visiting of graves, meaning: You have made your occupations that cut you off from knowledge and learning the visiting of graves, boasting about those who have passed and commemorating them. And he said: Then the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I had forbidden you from visiting graves, so visit them and do not say anything inappropriate." So his prohibition, blessings and peace be upon him, was in the meaning of the verse, then he permitted it later for the purpose of admonition, not for the purpose of boasting and pride as people do in frequenting them and adorning them with marble and stones, coloring them extravagantly, and building domes over them.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿Kalla sawfa ta'lamun﴾ is a reprimand and a warning. Then He repeated, exalted is He, "Kalla" for emphasis, and people take from this repeated reprimand and warning according to their share of immersion in what they dislike. This is the interpretation of the majority of people. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Kalla, you will know in the graves, Kalla, you will know in the resurrection." And Al-Dahhak said: The first reprimand and its warning is for the disbelievers, and the second is for the believers. And Malik ibn Dinar read: "Kalla sayaalamun" in both.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Certainly, if you knew﴾, the answer to "if" is omitted and understood in the saying, meaning: you would have refrained and hastened to save yourselves from destruction. And "certainty" is the highest rank of knowledge. Then, He informed the people that they will see the Hellfire. Ibn Abbas and Al-Kisai read: "You will surely see" with a dammah on the ta, while the others read it with a fatha, and this is the stronger reading. Likewise in the second instance, Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, read with a fatha on the first ta and a dammah on the second ta. It has also been narrated that a dammah was reported from Ibn Kathir and Asim.

And "you will see" originally is "tar'ayoonna", the vowel of the hamzah was transferred to the ra, and the ya was changed to an alif due to its vowel after an open letter, then the alif was omitted due to its sukoon and the sukoon of the waw after it. Then the doubled noon was brought in, so the waw was vowelled with a dammah due to its sukoon and the sukoon of the first noon from the doubled form; since the noon of the inflection was omitted for the sake of construction. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: This is an address to the polytheists, so the meaning - on this - is that it is the vision of entry, which is the essence of certainty. Others said: The address is to all people, so it is like His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And there is none of you except that he will enter it﴾ [Maryam: 71], meaning that everyone will see it, and the one who is saved may be in it while the disbeliever is cast into it. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty﴾ is an emphasis in the news, and "the eye of certainty" is its reality and its ultimate goal. It has been narrated from Al-Hasan and Abu Amr that they pronounced "you will surely see" and "you will surely see it" with a hamzah, differing from each other. It has also been narrated from Ibn Kathir: "Then you will surely see it" with a dammah on the ta.

Then Allah, the Most High, informed that people will be questioned on that Day about their blessings in this world. How did they attain them? And why did they prefer them? In this regard, there are many questions according to each individual, from those who are submissive to whom has been given understanding in the Book of Allah, the Most High. Ibn Mas'ud, Al-Sha'bi, Sufyan, and Mujahid said: The blessing is safety and health. Ibn Abbas said: It is the body and the senses; a person will be asked about how he used them. Ibn Jubair said: It is everything that one enjoys from food and drink. "And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, ate fresh dates with some of his companions and drank water with them, then he said to them: 'This is from the blessing about which you will be questioned.'" "And one day, he, blessings and peace be upon him, went with Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, while they were hungry, to the house of Abu Haytham ibn Al-Tihan. He slaughtered a sheep for them, fed them bread and fresh dates, and provided them with sweet water, and they were in the shade. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, you will certainly be questioned about the blessing of this day.'" It has been narrated from him, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "The blessing that you will be questioned about is a piece of bread that sustains you, water that quenches your thirst, and a garment that covers you." Abu Huraira narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "The blessing that you will be questioned about is cold water in the summer." And he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever eats wheat bread and drinks cold water in the shade, that is the blessing about which he will be questioned." And he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "A house that shelters you, a piece of cloth that covers you, and a piece of bread that strengthens your heart; anything besides that is a blessing." The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Every blessing will be questioned about, except for a blessing in the way of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."

The interpretation of Surah [Al-Takathur] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.