Verses 9–42

On the Meaning of Good–fated and Ill–fated Days

An ‘ill-fated day’ refers to a period of time where, whatever transpires in them, its outcome is always evil, and a person’s deeds—or a specific variety of their deeds—performed during this time bring them no blessings. A ‘goodfated day’ is the opposite of this.

There is no way to prove that a particular day or specific time is either good-fated or ill-fated, as the nature of time is uniform in its parts and dimensions. We cannot fully comprehend the various causes and factors influencing the occurrence of events or actions in such a way that would enable us to determine whether it is auspicious or inauspicious based on these. Therefore, we do not have enough information to know whether a particular event at a particular time was the result of good or ill fortune.

And, based on the above, there is also no way for us to decisively disprove the existence of good or ill fortune, just as there was no way to decisively prove it. Moreover, even if its existence seems far-fetched, this alone is not enough to disregard it, as improbability is not the same as impossibility. This is all from the perspective reason.

With regards to revelation, the Qurʾan speaks of ill-fated days and their opposite: Indeed We unleashed upon them an icy gale on an incessantly illfated day (54:19); … so We unleashed upon them an icy gale during ill-fated days (41:16).

However, neither the broader context of the story nor the wording of these two verses suggest anything more than this inauspiciousness being specific to the time in which God punished ʿĀd with the icy gale. This was a period of seven nights and eight days, one after another, during which the punishment continued unceasingly. It does not appear that there was anything specifically ill-fated about that week other than this, or else all moments would be ill-fated, and this would not depend on the passage of months or years.

37:100In contrast to ill-fated times, the Qurʾan also speaks of good-fated or auspicious times. For example:

By the Manifest Book! Indeed We sent it down on a blessed night (44:2– 3)—This refers to the Night of Determination (Laylat al-Qadr), which God describes elsewhere with the verse, The Night of Ordainment is better than a thousand months (97:3). The apparent meaning of this is that the blessings of this night and its auspiciousness derive from its connection with momentous spiritual events or the outpourings of divine grace from the Unseen realm. For example, the resolution of the divine decree (qaḍāʾ), the descent of the angels and the Spirit, or its being peace. God says: Every definitive matter is resolved in it (44:4), and In it the angels and the Spirit descend, by the leave of their Lord, with every command. It is peaceful until the rising of the dawn (97:5).

In this case, its blessedness and auspiciousness stems from the merits of performing acts of worship therein, the increased reward they incur as a result, and the special divine grace available to those who turn towards God during these times.

As for the traditions, there are a great many that speak of good and ill-fated days of the week, or specific dates on the Arabic, Persian, or Roman calendars. These narration abound in collections of traditions, but the majority of them are either weak or have incomplete chains of narration, even if one or two of them have reliable chains.

There also are traditions that enumerate the ill-fated days of the week or year, such as Wednesdays, or the last Wednesday of every month, or seven days from every Arabic month, and two days from every Roman month. Many of these—and especially those that single out particular days of the week or dates on the Arabic calendar—refer to certain days as ill-fated because of events that took place on them that were unpleasant for religious sentiments. For example, the death of the Prophet, the martyrdom of (Imām) Ḥusayn, Abraham being thrown into the bonf re, or divine punishment befalling a particular nation, or the creation of Hell, or the like thereof.

It goes without saying that such days are considered ill-fated, such that people avoid pursuing desirable things or seeking enjoyment therein, in order to strengthen people’s piety and augment their religious spirit. Conversely, not attaching importance to these days and devoting oneself to the pursuit of one’s desires and amusement therein is tantamount to turning away from the truth, violating the sanctity of the religion, and disrespecting those who embody it. Therefore, the ill-fatedness of these days derives from the spiritual negativity associated with them due to a variety of matters of social convention, which nevertheless suggests a negative relationship with religiosity for those who do not observe them.

37:101At the same time, there are numerous narrations that enjoin people to seek refuge in God through almsgiving, fasting, supplication, or reciting some of the Qurʾan on these days in order to repel its ill-fatedness, as we read in the Majālis of Ibn al-Shaykh, who narrates the following tradition from Sahl b. Yaʿqūb Abī Nawās from Imām al-ʿAskarī: ‘I said, “My master, on most of these days people are prevented from attaining their goals—and it is said they are full of perils and ill omens—so show me how to guard against these perils, for I am compelled by necessity to seek my needs therein!” He said, “O Sahl, our followers who cling to our loyalty (wilāya) are protected. Even if they must pass through surging seas, endless deserts, or a gauntlet of wolves, beasts, and enemies from among the jinn and humankind, they will be safe from their perils by virtue of their loyalty to us. So place your trust in God and devote yourself to your pure Imāms, then turn wherever you wish and set out for wherever you wish…’ then he bid him to recite some verses of the Qurʾan and supplications to protect himself from ill-fated days and told him to do as he wished therein.

In al-Khiṣāl, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq narrates via a chain of narrators from Muḥammad b. Riyāḥ al-Fallāḥ: ‘I saw Abū Ibrāhīm (Imām al-Kāẓim) having cupping done one Friday. I said to him, “May I be your ransom, do you have cupping done on a Friday?” He said, “Recite Āyat al-Kursī whenever your blood is excited, whether night or day, recite Āyat al-Kursī and then have cupping done.”’

Also in al-Khiṣāl, via a chain of narrators from Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Daqqāq: ‘I wrote to Abū al-Ḥasan al-Thānī (Imām al-Riḍā) asking him about going out on the last Wednesday of the month. He wrote to me: “Whoever goes out on the last Wednesday of the month in opposition to the augurs will be protected from every harm, healed from injury, and God will look after his needs.” I wrote to him another time asking about having cupping done on the last Wednesday of the month. He wrote back to me: “Whoever has cupping done on the last Wednesday of the month in opposition to the augurs will be cured of every illness, protected from every injury, and his place of cupping will not be bruised.”’

A tradition in the same vein can be found in Tuḥuf al-ʿuqūl, in which al-Ḥusayn b. Masʿūd relates: ‘One day, I visited Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. On that day, I had stubbed my toe, a rider had struck me and bruised my shoulder, and I had been caught in a press of people and they tore some of my clothing. I said, “May God save me from your evil, what an ill-fated day you are!” He said to me, “O Ḥasan, what is the meaning of this? Do you cast the blame for your sin on one who is innocent of it?” Whereat my sense returned to me and I realized my error, so I said, “O my master, I plead for God’s forgiveness!” He said, “O Ḥasan, what wrong have the days done for you to take an ill omen from them whenever you are recompensed for your deeds in them?” I said, “I plead for God’s forgiveness eternally! This is my repentance, O scion of the Messenger of God!” He said, “It will not avail you, but God will take you to task for blaming someone for something for which they are blameless! Do you not realize, O Ḥasan, that God is the one who rewards and punishes and recompenses for deeds, whether in this world on the next?” I said, “Of course, O my master!” He said, “Do not think that the days have any hand in God’s decree.” I said, “Of course, O my master!”’

37:102The above narrations—and there are many others of similar import— indicate that certain days were seen as ill-fated or inauspicious based on the beliefs and superstitions of the ordinary folk, who took omens from such things. However, as we shall discuss, belief in omens can still have an effect on a person’s psyche. These narrations address the inauspiciousness of these days by turning people’s minds away from belief in such superstitions, if they are able, and by directing them to seek refuge in God and to seek the protection of verses of the Qurʾan or supplications that they can recite if they are not.

Some scholars have argued that the traditions that appear to af rm the reality of inauspicious or ill-fated days were actually uttered out of precautionary dissimulation (taqiyya). This is not unlikely, because the belief that certain times, places, and circumstances are unlucky or ill-fated is prevalent amongst ordinary folk from all peoples and nations, in spite of their differences and divisions, since time immemorial until the present day. In fact, in the early days, even educated folk subscribed to such beliefs and ascribed them to the Prophet himself, such that no one could reject them. For example, we find narrated in Kitāb al-musalsalāt, via a chain going back to al-Faḍl b. al-Rabīʿ: ‘One day, I was with my master (the ʿAbbāsid caliph) al-Maʾmūn, and we wished to go out on Wednesday. Al-Maʾmūn said, “It an inauspicious day. I heard this from my father, (Hārūn) al-Rashīd. He heard it from al-Mahdī. He heard it from al-Manṣūr. He heard it from his father, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. He heard it from his father, ʿAlī. He heard it from his father, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbbās. He heard from the Messenger of God: “Surely the last Wednesday of the month is a day of incessant misfortune.”’

37:103As for those narrations that cast certain days of the week or the year as auspicious or lucky, the basis for this is similar to the first basis on which traditions cast other days as ill-fated or inauspicious. In short, these days have become associated with good fortune because of certain auspicious religious events that took place on them, such as the birth of the Prophet or the beginning of his mission. For example, it is transmitted that the Prophet said: ‘O God! Bless my nation on the morning of each Saturday and Thursday.’ And it has been transmitted that God softened iron for David on a Tuesday and that the Prophet would set out on a journey on Fridays, and that ‘al-Aḥad’ (Sunday) is one of the names of God.

So, based on this lengthy discussion, it is clear that the idea of certain days being lucky or unlucky, or auspicious or inauspicious, does not rest on anything more than their association with certain important religious events, whether these are pleasant or unpleasant to religious sensibilities or in their effect on people’s psyches. As for the idea that any day (or other unit of time) is innately lucky or unlucky, and that this has a real effect on the natural world and the events that transpire in it, there is no evidence for this, and any traditions which appear to suggest this must either be understood to have been uttered out of taqiyya or to be without basis.

Discourse On Heavenly Bodies

From a rational perspective, the idea that certain heavenly bodies or celestial alignments bring about good or bad fortune is no different to that of certain days of the week or year being auspicious or inauspicious. There is no way to prove that the Sun and Jupiter are auspicious planets, or that the conjunction of two stars in ascent is auspicious. Likewise, there is no way to prove that Mars is inauspicious, or that whenever the Moon in Scorpio is an ill-fated time.

It is true that the ancient astronomers of India believed that there was a connection between the movements of the heavens and the events on the earth, and not only the movements of the planets, but of the fixed stars as well. Others believed that alignment of the seven planets (but not the fixed stars) was connected to worldly events and that each of them had its own qualities and effects. This knowledge was known as aḥkām al-nujūm (or ‘the laws of the stars’), and these astronomers believed that they could predict the effects the different alignments of the planets would have on worldly events.

37:104Astrologers differed over the nature of the stars and planets: There were those who claimed that the planets were living entities with souls and freewill that could act with agency in the world, while others said that they did not have souls but could still act with agency in the world. Then there were those that said they were accessories to God’s agency in the world, such that it was He that set events in motion but that the planets and their alignments were portents of these events, even though they did not have any agency or role in bringing them about. Others still said that there was no connection between the planets and worldly events, even in the sense of their arrangement portending them. Instead, it was merely God’s habit to cause a certain kind of event at the time of a particular planetary arrangement, but this was purely arbitrary and something that He could alter at any time.

Furthermore, some astrological laws are not consistent, such that a particular arrangement of the stars and planets necessitates a particular prediction. On the contrary, the prediction may obtain sometimes and not obtain at others. Some of the wondrous stories and accounts that have reached us concerning the predictions of astrology do suggest that there is some kind of a connection between celestial events and terrestrial one, albeit a partial and incomplete one. The contents of some of the traditions of the Imāms of the Prophet’s Household also seem to confirm this.

Therefore, it is not possibly to decisively claim that a particular planet or celestial arrangement is either auspicious or inauspicious. As for the connection between the alignments of the planets and worldly events, this is not something that can be denied, even by a sceptic. However, as for the view that the planets or celestial alignments have a direct effect on the world below them—whether as intelligent beings or otherwise—there is nothing about this that contradicts the essential tenets of the religion, unless we say that these planets are creators or originator of the beings below them in the hierarchy of existence in a way that renders them independent from God (as opposed to being intermediaries in the process of creation), as this would be polytheism. However, no one claims this, not even the Sabaeans who worship the celestial bodies. It would also run contrary to Islamic teachings to claim that they play a role in directing the cosmic order in a way that is independent from God, which would assign them the role of lordship (rubūbiyya), from which derives worship (maʿbūdiyya). This too is polytheism, and it is the doctrine of the Sabaeans who worship the planets.

37:105Now, there are many narrations that have come down concerning certain celestial bodies being either auspicious or inauspicious, whether for or against this position. We will present a few examples of the different categories of them below:

There are narrations that appear to acknowledge both auspicious and inauspicious celestial bodies and alignments.

For example, in the Risāla al-dhahabiyya from Imām al-Riḍā, we read: ‘Know that it is best to have intercourse with your wives while the moon is in Aries or Aquarius, and that it is even better when the moon is in Taurus, because the moon is exalted when in Taurus.’

In Biḥār al-anwār, Majlisī narrates from al-Nawādir, which transmits via a chain going back to Ḥumrān from Imām al-Ṣādiq: ‘Whoever sets off on a journey or marries while the moon is in Scorpio will see not benefit from it.’

In the Kitāb al-Nujūm of Ibn Ṭāwūs, it is narrated from ʿAlī: ‘It is disliked that a person should travel at a time of the month when the moon is in conjunction and also when the moon is in Scorpio.’

According to some scholars, narrations such as these can be understood as having been uttered under the guise of taqiyya. It is also possible that some of these teachings were espoused by the Imāms in response to the beliefs of the ordinary folk, as, for example, seems likely with those narrations that enjoin people to give charity in order to repel the inauspiciousness of a certain planetary alignment.

In his Nawādir, al-Rāwandī narrates via a chain of transmission from Mūsā b. Jaʿfar, from his father, from his grandfather, the following the tradition: ‘When you wake up, give some charity (ṣadaqa) to repel from yourself thereby the inauspiciousness of that day, and when you enter the evening, give some charity to repel from yourself thereby the inauspiciousness of that night…’—However, reports such as this can also be read as af rming that there is a direct connection between the alignment of the planet and the stars and events on earth.

Then there are those traditions that appear to deny the effect of the stars on worldly events and strictly forbid people from relying on astrology or even occupying themselves with its study. For example, we read in Nahj al-balāgha: ‘The astrologer is like the soothsayer, and the soothsayer is like the sorcerer, and the sorcerer is like the disbeliever, and the disbeliever is in Hellfire.’ However, there are other traditions which indicate that astrology is authentic and permit people to study it, and from these it becomes apparent that this prohibition on pursuing astrology or believing in it refers to believing that the stars have an influence that is independent of God, which leads one to polytheism, as we have already discussed above.

37:106Then there are those traditions that indicate that astrology is real but that a little knowledge of it is of no benefit, while it is impossible to acquire much knowledge of it, as we see in al-Kāfī. There, al-Kulaynī narrates from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Sayyāba: ‘I said to Imām al-Ṣādiq, “May I be your ransom, people say that it is forbidden to study astrology, but I am interested in it. If it is something that will harm my faith, then I have no need of anything that harms my faith, but if it does not harm my faith, then by God I am fascinated by it and desire to study it!” He said, “It is not as they say. It will not harm your faith… but you will be studying something much of which cannot be obtained and a little of which is of no use.”’

In Biḥār al-anwār, it is narrated from the Kitāb al-nujūm of Ibn Ṭāwūs, who narrates from Muʿāwiya b. Ḥakīm, from Muḥammad b. Ziyād, from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-Khathʿamī: ‘I asked Imām al-Ṣādiq about astrology, is it true? He told me, “Yes.” I said, ‘Is there someone on the earth who knows it?’ He said, “Yes, there is someone on the earth who knows it.”’ There are a number of narrations which state: ‘None know it except the People of the House from India and the People of the House from the Arabs’ some also say ‘…from the Quraysh.’

These narrations support what we have said earlier about there being some general connection between celestial alignments and worldly events.

Of course, there is also the narration that reads: ‘God sent down the planet Jupiter to earth in the form of a man. He met a non-Arab man and taught him astronomy until he thought he had learnt it completely, and then he asked him, “Tell me, where is Jupiter?” The man answered, “I do not see it in the firmament and I do not know where it is.” So Jupiter left him and took the hand of a man from India and taught him astronomy until he thought he had learnt it completely. Then, he asked him, “Tell me, where is Jupiter?” He answered, “My observations tell me that you are Jupiter.” As soon as he said this, he gasped and died, but his family inherited this knowledge from him, and the knowledge is there still.’ However, this appears to be a fabrication.

Discourse on Taking Omens from Worldly Events

This means either to see some event as a portent of good fortune, known in Arabic as tafāʾul, or as an omen of ill fortune, which is known as taṭayyur. Now, it is very often that these premonitions—both good and bad—turn out to be accurate, but this is because of the effect they have on the psyche of the person who believes in them.

37:107Islam has drawn a distinction between tafāʾul and taṭayyur, in that it has bid people to take good omens from things and forbidden them from taking things as bad omens. This confirms the fact that such omens primarily affect the psyche of the person who perceives them.

As for seeing good omens in things, it is narrated from the Prophet: ‘See good omens in things and good will come to you.’ In fact, the Prophet himself would often take things as a good omen, and there are many examples of this that can be found in accounts of his life.¹

As for finding bad omens, there are many examples in the Qurʾan, where the peoples of various prophets took their preaching to be an ill omen and refused to believe in them. The prophets responded to their people by saying words to the effect that their superstition would not turn truth into falsehood nor turn falsehood into truth and that the matter was in the hands of God and not in that of an omen that could not bring itself any benefit, let alone bring good or evil or happiness or misery to others. For example, God says, They said, ‘Indeed we take you for a bad omen. If you do not relinquish we will stone you, and surely a painful punishment will visit you from us.’ They said, ‘Your bad omens attend you…’ (36:18–19). In other words, your own superstition brings evil to you, and this evil comes from you, not from us. Elsewhere, He says, They said, ‘We take for a bad omen you and those who are with you.’ He said, ‘Your bad omens are with Allah…’ (27:47). This means: ‘Whatever good or evil comes to you is ultimately from God; He is the one who determines what happens to you, not me or those who are with me. We have no control over these matters.’

There are numerous traditions which prohibit people from finding bad omens and enjoining them to repel their inauspiciousness by not paying attention to them or through trusting in God (tawakkul) and supplication. As we have already highlighted, this supports the idea that the effect of these bad omens is primarily in a person’s psyche rather than objective reality. For example, in al-Kāfī, al-Kulaynī relates via a chain of transmissions from ʿAmr b. Ḥurayth, from Imām al-Ṣādiq: ‘Bad omens are what you make of them, if you treat them as trivial, they are trivial, and if you believe them to be serious, they are serious, and if you believe them to be nothing, they are nothing.’ This tradition is clearly predicated on the idea that whatever effect these omens have is via the psyche of the one who perceives them. There is a tradition in a similar vein narrated in Sunnī sources, which reads: ‘There are three things that no one is safe from: Superstition, envy, and suspicion.’ Someone asked, ‘What should we do?’ He said, ‘If you see a bad omen, ignore it; if you are envious, do not act on it, and if you suspect something, do not believe it.’

37:108In the same vein, in al-Kāfī, it is narrated from al-Qummī, from his father, from al-Nawfalī, from al-Sukūnī, from Imām al-Ṣādiq, from the Messenger of God: ‘The expiation of superstition is to trust in God…’—note that by enjoining people to trust in God (tawakkul), this shows that the matter is under God’s control and, therefore, nothing has any power to do harm to a person except by His leave. There is a similar tradition narrated in Sunnī sources, which reads: ‘Superstition is polytheism and nothing to do with us, but God takes it away through placing one’s trust in Him.’

In the same vein as the previous narration is the following from Imām al-Kāẓim: ‘There are seven ill omens that a traveller encounters on his way: A crow that caws from his right; a dog with its tail raised; a hungry wolf that howls at a man while sitting on its tail, then rises and falls three times; a deer that leaps from his right side to his left side; a hooting owl; if his eyes fall on the face of a grey-haired woman; and a donkey with clipped ears. Whoever finds himself perturbed by any of these, then let him say: “I seek protection with you, O Lord, from the evil that I find in myself!” And, thereby, he is protected from it.’

Also included in this discussion are those things that ordinary people take as signs of bad luck, such as sneezing once when making a decision about something. There are numerous traditions, on a variety of forbidding people from believing in these ill omens and commanding them to place their trust in God instead. For example, in one Prophetic tradition narrated by both Sunnī and Shīʿī scholars: ‘There is no contagion (ʿadawī), nor omens (ṭīra), nor haunting (hāma)², nor ill luck (shuʾm), nor whistling while watering animals (ṣafar), nor breast-feeding after weaning, nor turning nomadic after emigrating, nor silence from morning until night, nor divorce before marriage, nor manumission before enslavement, nor orphanhood after maturity.’

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِٱلنُّذُرِ ۝٢٣

37:10954:23 Thamūd denied the warnings (nudhur)

The term nudhur here is either an infinitive, in which case this verse means, ‘The people of Thamūd denied the warnings of their prophet Ṣāliḥ.’ Alternatively, it could be the plural of nadhīr (‘warner’), in which case it means: ‘The people of Thamūd denied all of the prophets’, because to deny one of the prophets is to deny all of them together and they all share one and the same message, and there is no difference between any of their teachings. This, then, is in the same vein as the verse, Thamūd impugned the messengers (26:141). Finally, it could be the plural of nadhīr (in the sense of ‘warning’), in which case it could refer to either of the two above meanings.

فَقَالُوٓا۟ أَبَشَرًا مِّنَّا وَٰحِدًا نَّتَّبِعُهُۥٓ إِنَّآ إِذًا لَّفِى ضَلَـٰلٍ وَسُعُرٍ ۝٢٤

54:24 and they said, ‘Are we to follow a lone person (wāḥid) from ourselves? Indeed then we would be in error and madness (suʿur).’

This adds details to their denial.

Suʿur is the plural of saʿīr, which literally means ‘a blazing fire.’ It could be used figuratively mean ‘madness’ (junūn), which is the most appropriate meaning for this context.

Wāḥid is used here in the sense of the count of one, meaning: ‘They denied and said, “Is a man of our own species, a lone person without any numbers or followers. If we did that, we would surely be have strayed astonishingly into error and madness.’

They say this as an excuse for not following Ṣāliḥ, because—according to them—he had no numbers or power on his side, and they were used to following people of power and influence, such as kings and grandees. By contrast, Ṣāliḥ was calling on them to obey him and reject loyalty to their own grandees, as God recounts in the verse, So be wary of Allah and obey me, and do not obey the dictates of the profligate (26:151).

On the other hand, wāḥid may mean one in the sense of ‘one of us.’ In this vase, the meaning of the verse would be: ‘Shall we follow a man who is one of us, of our species?’

The following verse expounds this further.

أَءُلْقِىَ ٱلذِّكْرُ عَلَيْهِ مِنۢ بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُوَ كَذَّابٌ أَشِرٌ ۝٢٥

37:11054:25 ‘Has the Reminder been cast upon him from among us?

Rather he is a self-conceited liar.’

This question, like the one before it, is rhetorical with the force of a denial. It means: ‘Out of all of us, has revelation been sent down to him exclusively, when he is no better than any of us? This is impossible!’ According to some commentators, the use of the phrase ‘cast upon him’ (ilqāʾ) rather than ‘sent down’ (inzāl) is to show that they believe this is something sudden and unexpected.

It seems that what they are rejecting is the idea that the Reminder has been cast upon one of their own people, a human like themselves. On the other hand, if the revelation was genuine and it was possible for it to be sent down to a human being, then all human beings would receive revelation. Therefore, why is it—so they ask—that only Ṣāliḥ received revelations from God and none of them? This is in the same vein as the verse, ‘You are just a human being like us’ (26:154).

Rather he is a self-conceited liar: Meaning, he is extremely vain and arrogant and intends to aggrandize himself above us in this way.

سَيَعْلَمُونَ غَدًا مَّنِ ٱلْكَذَّابُ ٱلْأَشِرُ ۝٢٦

54:26 ‘Tomorrow they will know who is a self-conceited liar.’

This are the words that God spoke to Ṣāliḥ, as are the following two verses. ‘Tomorrow’ here does not signify the literal meaning of ‘the next day’, but rather the outcome of an affair, akin to the Arabic adage, ‘Today has a tomorrow.’ Hence, God is saying that when the punishment befalls them they will realize with absolute certainty who is the self-conceited liar, Ṣāliḥ or them.

إِنَّا مُرْسِلُوا۟ ٱلنَّاقَةِ فِتْنَةً لَّهُمْ فَٱرْتَقِبْهُمْ وَٱصْطَبِرْ ۝٢٧

54:27 ‘We are sending the She-camel as a trial (fitna) for them;

so watch them and be steadfast.’

This verse explains why the punishment prophesied in the previous verse will befall them, as in: ‘The punishment will befall them because they did such and such.’ The term fitna here is used in the sense of a test and an ordeal. Therefore, the meaning is as follows: ‘We will send—as an inimitable miracle—the she-camel which they have demanded as a test for them, so see what they do and be steadfast in the face of their persecution.

وَنَبِّئْهُمْ أَنَّ ٱلْمَآءَ قِسْمَةٌۢ بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ كُلُّ شِرْبٍ مُّحْتَضَرٌ ۝٢٨

37:11154:28 ‘Inform them that the water is to be dispensed between them; every drinking (shirb) will be attended.’

The first instance of the pronoun ‘them’ refers to Ṣāliḥ’s people; the second instance refers to both them and the she-camel by way of grammatical preference (taghlīb).³ The word shirb here denotes a share of the water. The meaning of the verse is: ‘Make them aware that, after the she-camel has been sent, the water must be shared between them and the she-camel, both they and the she-camel will have their own turn to drink the water, so each should come when its turn is due.’ As God says elsewhere, He said, ‘This is a she-camel; she shall drink and you shall drink on known days’ (26:155).

فنادوا صاحِبهم فتعا� فعقر ۝٢

54:29 But they called their companion, and he took (taʿāṭā) and hamstrung (ʿaqara).

‘Their companion’ (ṣāḥibahum) refers to the one who hamstrung the she-camel, ‘took’ means he took on the task of hamstringing her, then he hamstrung and killed her.

فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِى وَنُذُرِ ۝٣٠ إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ صَيْحَةً وَٰحِدَةً فَكَانُوا۟ كَهَشِيمِ ٱلْمُحْتَظِرِ ۝٣١

54:30–31 So how were My punishment and My warnings?! We sent against them a single Cry, and they became like the dry sticks

(hashīm) of a corral builder (muḥtaẓir).

A muḥtaẓir is someone who builds a pen (ḥaẓīra), which is an enclosure for the keeping of animals. The hashīm of a corral builder are the dried out branches or the like that he uses to build the pen for his animals. The rest of the meaning is clear.

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ ۝٣٢

37:11254:32 Certainly We have made the Qurʾan simple for the sake of remembrance. So is there anyone who will be reminded?

This has already been explained previously.

كَذَّبَتْ قَوْمُ لُوطٍۭ بِٱلنُّذُرِ ۝٣٣

54:33 And the people of Lot denied the warnings.

The explanation of this is the same as that given above (54:23).

إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ حَاصِبًا إِلَّآ ءَالَ لُوطٍ ۖ نَّجَّيْنَـٰهُم بِسَحَرٍ ۝٣٤

54:34 We unleashed a rain of stones (ḥāṣib) upon them, excepting the family of Lot, whom We delivered at dawn (bi saḥarin).

The ḥāṣib (‘rain of stones’) refers to a powerful wind that carries rocks and pebbles. This is the wind that rained on them stones of laminar shale (11:82).

In Majmaʿ al-bayān, we read: ‘Saḥarin, when left indefinite, signifies “one morning at dawn.” For example, if you were to say, “I saw Zayd saḥaran”, this means that you saw him one morning. If you wished to say that you saw him this morning, you would say “I saw him bi saḥari” or “I came upon him bi saḥari” without the use of tanwīn (the -n sound at the end of an indefinite word).’

And the meaning of the verse is clear.

نِّعْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى مَن شَكَرَ ۝٣٥

54:35 As a blessing from Us (niʿmatan). Thus do We reward those who give thanks.

The word niʿmatan (lit. ‘a blessing’) here is in the grammatical position of an object of purpose (mafʿūl lahu—meaning, the reason for which the action signified by the verb was performed) for the verb in the previous verse, ‘We delivered.’ In other words, ‘We delivered them so that this would be a special blessing from Us upon them because they were grateful to Us, and the recompense for gratitude is salvation.’

وَلَقَدْ أَنذَرَهُم بَطْشَتَنَا فَتَمَارَوْا۟ بِٱلنُّذُرِ ۝٣٦

37:11354:36 He had certainly warned them of Our violence (baṭsha), but they disputed (tamārū) the warnings.

The pronoun ‘he’ at the beginning of the verse refers to the prophet Lot, and baṭsha here signifies a severe punishment. Tamārī means to argue stubbornly and obstinately cling to doubt. Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘I swear that Lot cautioned them about our severe punishment, but they disputed his warnings and his cautions.’

وَلَقَدْ رَٰوَدُوهُ عَن ضَيْفِهِۦ فَطَمَسْنَآ أَعْيُنَهُمْ فَذُوقُوا۟ عَذَابِى وَنُذُرِ ۝٣٧

54:37 Certainly they even solicited (rāwadū) of him his guests, whereat We blotted out their eyes, ‘Taste My punishment and

My warnings (nudhur)!’

The verb rāwadū (‘they solicited’) means they demanded that he turn over his guests to them, and these guests were, in fact, angels. ‘We blotted out their eyes’ means that God blinded them. Note that the tone shifts suddenly such that God is addressing the people of Lot directly, ‘Taste My punishment and My warnings!’ This conveys His wrath and rebuke. Note that the infinitive nudhur (‘warnings’) here refers to what they were warned of, which is the severe punishment.

The meaning of the verse is otherwise clear.

وَلَقَدْ صَبَّحَهُم بُكْرَةً عَذَابٌ مُّسْتَقِرٌّ ۝٣٨

54:38 Certainly early at dawn (bukratan) there visited them an abiding (mustaqirr) punishment

In Majmaʿ al-bayān, we read: ‘The word bukratan (‘early at dawn’) is an adverb of time. If it was definite (that is, al-bukra), it would be referring to dawn the very next day. However, here it is indefinite, which means it befell them at a future dawn. The punishment is described as mustaqirr (‘abiding’) to show that neither were they spared, nor did the punishment cease.

فَذُوقُوا۟ عَذَابِى وَنُذُرِ ۝٣٩ وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ ۝٤٠

54:39–40 ‘Taste My punishment and My warnings!’ Certainly

We have made the Qurʾan simple for the sake of remembrance.

37:114So is there anyone who will be reminded?

These verses have already been explained, above.

وَلَقَدْ جَآءَ ءَالَ فِرْعَوْنَ ٱلنُّذُرُ ۝٤١ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا كُلِّهَا فَأَخَذْنَـٰهُمْ أَخْذَ عَزِيزٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍ ۝٤٢

54:41–42 Certainly the warnings came to Pharaoh’s clan. They denied all of Our signs. So We seized them with the seizing of One all-mighty, Omnipotent.

Note that there is no conjunction (such as ‘and’ or ‘then’) between the two verses. This is because the second verse, ‘They denied all of our signs…’ is the answer to an implicit question that is posed in response to the first verse. As if to say:

Certainly the warnings came to Pharaoh’s clan

Q: Then what did they do?

A: They denied all of Our signs

Then, as a result of their denial, We seized them with the seizing of One all-mighty, Omnipotent.

Examining Narrations

(1) In Rūḥ al-maʿānī, about the verse, Certainly We have made the Qurʾan simple for the sake of remembrance. So is there anyone who will be reminded? (54:17), it is narrated from Ibn Abī Ḥātim, from Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘Were it not for the fact that God had made it easy for the tongue of the children of Adam, none of the creation would have been able to pronounce the words of God.’

(2) In the same source, a similar narration is narrated by al-Daylamī, via an incomplete chain of narrators (marfūʿ), from Anas. Then al-Ālūsī remarks: ‘If the report of Anas is correct, perhaps it is not an exposition of the verse.’

Author’s comments: It is not unlikely that the meaning of this tradition matches the second of the explanations we presented for this verse, above. (3) In Tafsīr al-Qummī, about the verse, Then We opened the gates of the sky with pouring waters (54:11), we read: ‘Meaning that they poured forth as a torrent, without droplets.’ And We made the earth burst forth with springs and the water met (54:12)—‘the water of the sky and the water of the earth’—for a preordained purpose. We bore him—‘Noah’—on a vessel made of planks and nails—‘The planks and nails of the boat.’

37:115(4) In the same source, about the verse But they called their companion (54:29), we read: ‘Qudār, who hamstrung the she-camel’— like the dry sticks (54:31)—’grass and branches.’

(5) In al-Kāfī, al-Kulaynī narrates from Abū Yazīd from Imām al-Ṣādiq in a lengthy tradition in which he discussed the story of the people of Lot: ‘They were disdainful of him—Lot—to the point where they entered his home. Gabriel called out to him and said, ‘O Lot! Pay them no mind!’ And when they entered his home, Gabriel stretched out his fingers towards them, whereat they went blind. This is God’s saying, whereat We blotted out their eyes (54:37).