Tafsir for verses: 53:33, 53:34, 53:35, 53:36, 53:37, 53:38, 53:39, 53:40, 53:41, 53:42, 53:43, 53:44, 53:45, 53:46, 53:47, 53:48, 53:49, 53:50, 53:51, 53:52, 53:53, 53:54
أَفَرَءَيۡتَ ٱلَّذِي تَوَلَّىٰ ٣٣ ﴿33 وَأَعۡطَىٰ قَلِيلٗا وَأَكۡدَىٰٓ ٣٤ ﴿34 أَعِندَهُۥ عِلۡمُ ٱلۡغَيۡبِ فَهُوَ يَرَىٰٓ ٣٥ ﴿35 أَمۡ لَمۡ يُنَبَّأۡ بِمَا فِي صُحُفِ مُوسَىٰ ٣٦ ﴿36 وَإِبۡرَٰهِيمَ ٱلَّذِي وَفَّىٰٓ ٣٧ ﴿37 أَلَّا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٞ وِزۡرَ أُخۡرَىٰ ٣٨ ﴿38 وَأَن لَّيۡسَ لِلۡإِنسَٰنِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ ٣٩ ﴿39 وَأَنَّ سَعۡيَهُۥ سَوۡفَ يُرَىٰ ٤٠ ﴿40 ثُمَّ يُجۡزَىٰهُ ٱلۡجَزَآءَ ٱلۡأَوۡفَىٰ ٤١ ﴿41 وَأَنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلۡمُنتَهَىٰ ٤٢ ﴿42 وَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ أَضۡحَكَ وَأَبۡكَىٰ ٤٣ ﴿43 وَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ أَمَاتَ وَأَحۡيَا ٤٤ ﴿44 وَأَنَّهُۥ خَلَقَ ٱلزَّوۡجَيۡنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلۡأُنثَىٰ ٤٥ ﴿45 مِن نُّطۡفَةٍ إِذَا تُمۡنَىٰ ٤٦ ﴿46 وَأَنَّ عَلَيۡهِ ٱلنَّشۡأَةَ ٱلۡأُخۡرَىٰ ٤٧ ﴿47 وَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ أَغۡنَىٰ وَأَقۡنَىٰ ٤٨ ﴿48 وَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلشِّعۡرَىٰ ٤٩ ﴿49 وَأَنَّهُۥٓ أَهۡلَكَ عَادًا ٱلۡأُولَىٰ ٥٠ ﴿50 وَثَمُودَاْ فَمَآ أَبۡقَىٰ ٥١ ﴿51 وَقَوۡمَ نُوحٖ مِّن قَبۡلُۖ إِنَّهُمۡ كَانُواْ هُمۡ أَظۡلَمَ وَأَطۡغَىٰ ٥٢ ﴿52
33Did you see the one who turned away, 34and gave a little, and stopped? 35Does he have knowledge of the Unseen whereby he sees (what he believes)? 36Has he not been told of what was (revealed) in the scriptures of Mūsā 37and of Ibrāhīm who fulfilled (his duties)? 38(It was) that no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of the other, 39and that a man shall not deserve but (the reward of) his own effort, 40and that his effort will soon be seen, 41then he will be recompensed for it in full, 42and that to your Lord is the end (of every one), 43and that He is the One who makes (one) laugh and makes (him) weep, 44and that He is the One who gives death and gives life, 45and that He creates the pairs, male and female, 46from a sperm-drop when it is poured (into a womb), 47and that the second creation is undertaken by Him, 48and that He is the One who gives wealth and preserves (it), 49and that He is the One who is the Lord of Sirius (the star worshipped by pagans), 50and that He has destroyed the earlier ‘Ād, 51and Thamūd, so spared none, 52and (destroyed) the people of NūH even earlier. Surely they were more unjust and more rebellious.
AI-Assisted Translation: This translation was produced by AI agents carefully trained over several months and thoroughly reviewed. It does NOT replace the scholarship of traditional scholars and is intended as a step in the right direction to make classical tafsir more accessible. There may still be inaccuracies—please report them promptly so we can improve the translation quality.

Commentary

He has cut off his gift and withheld it. Its origin is: the hardness of the hoof, which is that it meets a rock-like hardness and stops digging. Similar to this is: the hardness of the hoof. Then it was borrowed and said: the poet is made to be silent if he is silenced. It has been narrated that عثمان (may Allah be pleased with him) used to give what he had for good. Then عبد الله بن سعد بن أبي سرح, who was his brother by nursing, said to him: You are about to have nothing left. عثمان replied: I have sins and mistakes, and I seek by what I do the pleasure of Allah, the Exalted, and I hope for His forgiveness. عبد الله said: Give me your she-camel with its saddle, and I will bear all your sins for you. He gave it to him and bore witness to it, and he stopped giving. Then it was revealed. The meaning of تَوَلَّى is to leave the position on the day of Uhud. عثمان returned to something better and more beautiful, for he sees and knows that what his brother said to him about bearing his burdens is true. وَفَّى is read with a light and heavy pronunciation, and the heavy pronunciation is an exaggeration in fulfilling. Or it means: he completed and finished, like His saying: فَأَتَمَّهُنَّ. Its usage encompasses every fulfillment and completion, including: delivering the message, undertaking the burdens of prophethood, and being patient with the slaughter of his son and the fire of Nimrod, and serving his guests and attending to them himself. He used to go out every day and walk a distance to seek a guest. If he found one, he honored him; otherwise, he intended to fast. And from الحسن: Allah did not command him with anything except that he fulfilled it. And from الهزيل بن شرحبيل: Between نوح and إبراهيم, a man would be taken for the sin of another, and he would be killed for his father, son, uncle, or maternal uncle, and the husband for his wife, and the servant for his master. The first to oppose them was إبراهيم. And from عطاء بن السائب: He was entrusted not to ask any creature. When he was thrown into the fire, جبريل and ميكائيل said to him: Do you have a need? He said: As for you two, no. And from the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him): In his daily actions, he would perform four rak'ahs at the beginning of the day, which is: the Duha prayer.

It has been narrated: Should I not inform you why Allah named His friend الَّذِي وَفَّى? He would say when he entered the morning and evening: فَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ حِينَ تُمْسُونَ ... to ... حِينَ تُظْهِرُونَ. And it was said: And in the shares of Islam: they are thirty: ten in repentance: التَّائِبُونَ ... and ten in the confederates: إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ ... and ten in the believers: قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ ... And it is read: in the scrolls, with a light pronunciation: أَلَّا تَزِرُ, that is, it does not bear, and the pronoun is the pronoun of the matter, and the position of أن وما بعدها is the genitive as a substitute for ما in صحف موسى. Or the raising on: it is that it does not bear, as if a speaker said: And what is in the scrolls of موسى and إبراهيم, it was said: that it does not bear except what he has earned. If you say: Is it not correct in the reports: charity for the deceased, and pilgrimage for him, and with it the multiplication? I say: There are two answers to it, one of which is that the actions of others do not benefit him except based on his own actions.

And it is that he should be a righteous believer. Likewise, the weakening - as if the effort of another is like his own effort, because he is a follower of him and is standing with his standing. The second is that the effort of another does not benefit him if he does it for himself. However, if he intends it for him, then by the ruling of Shari'ah, it is like a representative for him and an agent standing in his place. Then he will be rewarded, and the servant will be rewarded for his effort. It is said: May Allah reward him for his work and reward him for his work, by omitting the preposition and connecting the verb. It is possible that the pronoun refers to the reward, then it is explained by his saying: 'the complete reward' or it is substituted for it, as Allah, the Exalted, said: 'And those who wronged concealed their private conversation.' And that to your Lord is the final destination. It was read with an open vowel indicating that all of this is in the records, and with a broken vowel indicating the beginning, as well as what follows. The final destination is a source meaning the end, that is: creation ends there and returns to it, as Allah, the Exalted, said: 'To Allah is the return.' He created the ability for laughter and crying. [Mawlid said: 'That is, he created the ability for laughter and crying.' Ahmad said: 'And he also created the action of laughing and crying according to the principles of Sunnah, and the verse indicated this without any alteration, and Allah is the Grantor of success.'] When it is desired, when it flows in the womb, it is said: he desired and he caused to desire. Al-Akhfash said: 'He was created from the desired.' That is, the measure of what is measured: it was read: the creation and the creation with elongation. And it was said: 'It is obligatory.' [Mawlid said: 'He only said it is obligatory because... etc.' Ahmad said: 'This is from the corruption of the belief of the Mu'tazila, which they call consideration of righteousness and wisdom, and what greater corruption is there than leading to the belief of the Mu'tazila that obligation is upon the Lord of Lords? Glorified is Allah above that. And such a principle that has been invalidated by conclusive proofs does not suffice with a word that is ambiguous: if it were apparent, it would be necessary to interpret it in a way that reconciles it with the conclusive proofs, and what the word 'upon him' carries is not this meaning: rather, the intended meaning is that the matter of the other creation revolves around His ability, the Exalted, and His will, just as it is said: 'The matter of so-and-so revolved around my hands.' And the saying of the narrators: 'The hadith revolved around my hands,' meaning it is the origin in it and the chain, and Allah knows best.'] Upon him in wisdom [The saying 'because it is obligatory upon him in wisdom' is according to the Mu'tazila, not according to the people of Sunnah.] to be rewarded for good and evil. And he gave and provided the provision, which is the wealth that he has acquired and determined not to remove from his hand. Al-Shi'ra is the Merzama of Al-Jawzaa. [The saying 'the Merzama of Al-Jawzaa' in the dictionaries is 'the two Merzamas,' the Merzama of the two stars, one of which is in Al-Shi'ra, and the other in the arm.] It is that which rises behind it, and it is called the dog of the giant, and they are the two stars Al-Ghamisah and Al-Abur, and he intended Al-Abur. And Khuz'a used to worship it, and Abu Kabshah, a man from their nobles, established that for them. And Quraysh used to say to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Abu Kabshah,' likening him to him for his contradiction to them in their religion. [This is a misconception, and it is well-known that they used to say to him: 'Son of Abu Kabshah,' as in the long hadith of Abu Sufyan in the two Sahihs where he said: 'The matter of the son of Abu Kabshah has become such that the king of Banu Al-Asfar fears him,' meaning Heraclius.] He means: that he is their lord whom they worship. The first 'Aad: the people of Hud, and the second 'Aad: Iram. It was said: the first are the ancients, because they are the first of the nations to be destroyed after the people of Noah, or the ancients in the world, the nobles. And it was read: 'Aada for the first.' And 'Aad for the first,' by merging the tanween into the lam and omitting the hamzah of the first and transferring its dammah to the lam of the definite article. And Thamud was read: 'and Thamud.' They were more unjust and more oppressive [The saying 'and Thamud was more unjust and more oppressive' indicates that the reading with tanween is more famous.] because they used to harm him and beat him until he had no movement, and they would turn away from him until they warned their children not to hear from him, and his calling did not have an effect on them for nearly a thousand years. And the overturned ones: the towns that were overturned with their people, that is: turned upside down, and they are the people of Lot. It is said: 'Afa'ka fa'atafika:'

And it is recited: "And the overturned cities were raised to the sky on the wing of Gabriel, then they were brought down to the earth." This means: They were cast down by that which overwhelmed them, in exaggeration and glorification of the punishment that was poured upon them and the stones that were rained down upon them.

Explore Other Scholars on This Verse

Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Najm verse 48

Al-ZamakhshariAbū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī
Learn more about Al-Zamakhshari
2640 / 2978