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

Tafsir of Surah Al-Haaqqa

It is a Makki surah by consensus. It has been narrated that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "One day I went out in Makkah to confront the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and I found that he had already preceded me to the Sacred Mosque. So I came and stood behind him. He began reciting Surah Al-Haaqqa. When I heard the flow of the Qur'an, I said to myself, 'He is a poet,' as Quraysh say, until he reached the saying of Allah, the Exalted: 'Indeed, it is the saying of a noble Messenger' [Al-Haaqqa: 40] 'And it is not the saying of a poet; little do you believe' [Al-Haaqqa: 41] 'Nor is it the saying of a soothsayer; little do you remember' [Al-Haaqqa: 42] 'A revelation from the Lord of the worlds' [Al-Haaqqa: 43].

Then he continued until he reached the end of the surah, and Allah, the Exalted, entered Islam into my heart."

His saying, the Exalted:

'Al-Haaqqa' 'What is Al-Haaqqa?' 'And what can make you know what Al-Haaqqa is?' 'Thamud and 'Aad denied the calamity.' 'As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the overpowering blast.' 'And as for 'Aad, they were destroyed by a fierce, roaring wind.' 'He subjected it to them for seven nights and eight days, in succession, so you would see the people therein fallen as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.' 'So do you see for them any remains?'

'Al-Haaqqa' is a noun derived from 'haqqa al-shay'a yahqaqu' when it is truly existent. From it is 'haqqat kalimat al-'adhab,' and what is meant by it is the resurrection and the Day of Judgment. This was said by Ibn 'Abbas, Qatadah, and others. The Day of Judgment is called Al-Haaqqa because it establishes for every doer his deed. Some of the interpreters said: 'Al-Haaqqa' is a source like 'al-'aqibah' and 'al-'afiyah,' as if it is said: 'the one of truth.' Ibn 'Abbas and others said: It is called Al-Haaqqa because it reveals the realities of things. The word is in the nominative case as a subject, and 'what' is also in the nominative case as a subject. The second 'Al-Haaqqa' is the predicate of 'what,' and the sentence is the predicate of the first. This is like saying: 'Zayd is what Zayd is,' in a sense of magnifying it and obscuring it in greatness so that the listener may imagine its utmost effort.

And His saying, the Exalted: 'And what can make you know what Al-Haaqqa is?' is an exaggeration in this meaning, meaning that in it is what you do not know of its terrors and the details of its attributes. And 'what' is an affirmation and a stopping point. His saying, the Exalted: 'What is Al-Haaqqa?' is a subject and a predicate in the position of accusative with 'adraka.' And the first 'what' is a subject, and its predicate is 'adraka ma al-Haaqqa,' and in 'adraka' is a pronoun referring back to 'what,' which is the subject pronoun.

Then He mentioned the denial of Thamud and 'Aad regarding this matter which is true, indicating that whoever denies that will face what befell those. And 'al-qari'ah' from the heavens is also the Day of Judgment because it strikes the hearts with its attributes. And 'Thamud' is a proper Arabic name; if it is intended as the tribe, it does not decline, and if it is intended as the clan, it does decline. As for 'Aad,' being made up of three letters with a silent middle letter prevents it from being subject to any affliction, so it is declined.

'The tyrant' means, according to Qatadah, the sound that exceeds the limit of every sound. Some people said that it refers to the tyrannical group. Others among them, such as Mujahid and Ibn Zayd, said that it means because of the tyrannical deed that they committed. Ibn Zayd said that the meaning of 'the tyrant' is a source like 'the consequence,' as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: 'by their tyranny.' Abu Ubaidah also said this. This is supported by His saying, 'Thamud denied because of their tyranny' [Ash-Shams: 11]. The most correct and appropriate of the statements is the first, as it is suitable for what He mentioned regarding 'Aad when He mentioned the reason by which destruction occurred. In the other statements, the two matters do not correspond; because the tyranny of Thamud is a cause, and the wind does not correspond to that because it is not the cause of destruction, but it is a tool just as it is the sound.

And 'the howling' may be derived from 'the cold,' and this is the saying of Qatadah. It may also be derived from 'to howl,' so some people said that the sound of the wind is a howling, as if it is mimicking these two letters. And 'the fierce' means: the strong opposing one. The wind was fierce against the guardians contrary to it, and it was fierce against the people of 'Aad due to its strength. It has been narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that they said: No drop of water has ever descended from the sky except by measure at the hands of an angel, nor has any wind ever blown except in this way, except for what was from the flood of Noah, peace be upon him, and the wind of 'Aad, for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, permitted them to come forth without the permission of the guardians.

And 'the subjugation' means the use of something with power over it. It has been narrated that the wind began with them on the morning of Wednesday, eight days remaining in Shawwal, and continued with them until the end of Wednesday, completing the month. And 'complete' means, according to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Qatadah, and Abu Ubaidah: that it is complete in succession without interruption by anything else. This is as the Arabs say: 'I did not encounter him for a year as a criminal.' The poet said:

'Lonely ones who have not heard the sound of a gathering nor seen a fire for a year of crime.'

And Al-Khalil said: meaning: as a bad omen and misfortune. Ibn Zayd said: 'complete' is the plural of 'cutting off' like 'sitting' and 'standing,' and its meaning is that those days cut them off with destruction, and from it: 'to cut off ailments,' and from it: 'the sword.' The pronoun in His saying, 'in it are the slain,' may return to the nights and days, and it may return to 'their abode and settlement' because the meaning of the words necessitates it even if it is not explicitly mentioned. Al-Thalabi said: It is said that it returns to the wind, and the saying regarding the comparison to the trunks of the date palms in the verse 'The Hour has drawn near' [Al-Qamar: 1] has been previously mentioned. And 'the empty' means: the fallen one which has been emptied of its trunks due to decay and corruption.

Then He, exalted is He, paused regarding their matter with a pause of consideration by His saying: "So do you see for them any remaining?" The interpreters differed regarding "remaining". A group among them, including Ibn al-Anbari, said: It is here an exaggeration like "a sign" and "a genealogist", and the meaning is: from what remains. Ibn al-Anbari also said: Its meaning is: from a remaining group. Others said: "remaining" is a source, so the meaning is: from existence.