His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿So his soul permitted him to kill his brother, and he killed him, and became among the losers﴾ ﴿Then Allah sent a crow searching in the earth to show him how to cover the shame of his brother. He said, 'Woe to me! I was unable to be like this crow and cover the shame of my brother.' So he became among the regretful.﴾

The reading of the majority: 'So his soul permitted'; and the meaning is that killing, in itself, is greatly difficult for souls. This stubborn soul, which commands to evil, led him willingly; submissively; until the owner of this soul committed the act. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan; al-Jarrah; al-Hasan ibn Imran; and Abu Waqid read: 'So it persuaded'; and the meaning is that killing calls to itself; due to the malice and envy that afflicted Qabil; and as if the soul refuses that; and it is difficult for it; and every direction wants to obey the other; until the matter escalated; and the soul permitted killing and he committed it. It has been narrated that he sought a way to kill him; until he found him sleeping among his sheep; and he struck his head with a stone. It has been narrated that he did not know how to kill him; so Iblis came with a bird; or another creature and made him strike his head between two stones; so that Qabil could follow him; and he did. It has been narrated that when Qabil returned to Adam, he said to him: 'Where is Habil?' He said: 'I do not know; as if you entrusted me with his protection.' Adam said to him: 'Did you do it? By Allah, his blood calls to me from the earth; O Allah, curse a land that drank the blood of Habil.' It has been narrated that since then no land has drunk blood; then Adam - blessings and peace be upon him - remained for a hundred years without smiling until an angel came to him and said: 'May Allah greet you, O Adam, and may He make you happy.' Adam said: 'What makes me happy?' He said: 'I make you laugh.' It has been narrated that Adam - peace be upon him - said at that time:

The lands have changed and those upon them ∗∗∗ and the face of the earth is dusty and ugly.

Everything with taste and color has changed ∗∗∗ and the pleasant face has become less cheerful.

And so is the poetry; with the accusative of 'cheerfulness' and the stopping of the tanween.

It has been narrated from Mujahid that he said: One of the legs of the killer has been attached to its thigh from that day until the Day of Resurrection; and his face is toward the sun wherever it turns; upon him in summer is a shelter of fire; and upon him in winter is a shelter of snow.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: If this is authentic, then it is from his loss which is included in His saying - the Exalted -: ﴿And he became among the losers﴾; and from his loss is what has been narrated from Abdullah ibn Amr that he said: 'We find the son of Adam, the killer, sharing with the people of the Fire a true share of punishment; upon him is a portion of their punishment'; and from his loss is what has been established and confirmed from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - that he said: 'No soul is killed unjustly except that there is upon the first son of Adam a portion of it'; and that is because he was the first to establish killing.

And His saying: "So he became"; is an expression of all of his times. Some of the time has been established in place of all of it. The morning has been specified for that because it is the beginning of the day, and the rise to matters, and the means of activity. From this is the saying of Al-Rabi' ibn Dhab' as:

I have become one who does not carry arms

And from this is the saying of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas: "Then the Banu Asad became supportive of me in Islam"; and other than that from the usage of the Arabs; as we have mentioned.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿So Allah sent a raven searching in the earth to show him how to cover the shame of his brother﴾; it has been narrated in its meaning that Qabil placed his brother in a bag and walked with him carrying him on his neck for a hundred years; and it was said: for one year; and it was said: rather he became on the second day after killing him seeking to conceal the matter of his brother; so he did not know what to do with him; then Allah sent a living raven to a dead raven; so it began searching in the earth and throwing dirt on the dead raven. And it has been narrated that Allah, the Exalted, sent two ravens and they fought until one of them killed the other; then the killer began searching and burying the dead; and it has been narrated that Allah, the Exalted, only sent one raven; so it began searching and throwing dirt on Habil.

The apparent meaning of this verse is that Habil is the first dead from the children of Adam; and for that reason the practice of burial was unknown; and likewise Al-Tabari narrated from Ibn Ishaq; from some of the people of knowledge; as in the earlier books.

And "searching"; its meaning is: he is digging in the dirt with his beak; and stirring it up; and from this the Surah [At-Tawbah] was named "Al-Buhuth"; because it searched for the hypocrites; and from that is the saying of the poet:

If the people cover me, I will cover myself from them

And if they search for me, there are matters in them.

And in like manner: "Do not be like the one searching for the blade."

And the pronoun in His saying: the shame of his brother; it is possible that it returns to Qabil; and it is intended by the brother Habil; and it is possible that it returns to the searching raven; and it is intended by the brother the dead raven; and the first is more famous in interpretation; and the shame is: the private part; and it was specified in mention - although the intention is to bury the entire body - for the concern with it; and because covering it is more emphasized; and it is possible that this shame is intended to be the state that causes shame to the observer in its entirety; and it has been added to the killed in terms of the calamity that befell him; not in terms of the anger against him; rather the anger is directed towards the killer; and it is he who brought about the shame; and the majority read: "So I will cover"; with the 'ya' being in the accusative; and Talhah ibn Musarif and Al-Fayyad ibn Ghazwan read: "So I will cover"; with the 'ya' being silent; and it is a dialect for the continuity of the movements.

And when Qabil saw the action of the raven, he became aware of what he should do with his brother. He saw the shortcomings of his own self and the ignorance of mankind regarding matters. So he said: "O woe to me, have I failed?"; and he belittled himself. For this reason, he regretted. The majority read: "O woe to me"; and the original is: "O my woe"; but among the Arabs, there are those who replace the 'ya' with an 'alif', and they open the 'ya' for this reason, so they say: "O woe to me"; and "O boy"; and some of them pause at the 'ha' of silence; and they say: "O woe to me!"; and Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: "O my woe".

And the call of woe is in the meaning of: "Come forth; this is your time"; and this is the door in His saying: "O regret!"; and in their saying: "O wonder!"; and what follows this from the call of these matters that do not comprehend; and they are meanings. The majority read: "Have I failed?" with the opening of the 'jeem'; and Ibn Mas'ud, Al-Hasan, Al-Fayyad, and Talhah ibn Sulayman read: "Have I failed?" with the breaking of the 'jeem'; and this is a dialect.

Then indeed, Qabil buried his brother; and he regretted what he had done in disobedience to Allah in killing him; where regret does not benefit him. The scholars differed regarding Qabil; is he among the disbelievers or among the sinners? The apparent view is that he is among the sinners. It has been narrated from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - that he said: "Indeed, Allah has set for you the two sons of Adam as an example; so take from the better of them and leave the evil."