Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

The Mother of the Qurʾān. Ibn Kathīr on its seven verses, its many names, and why it is recited in every rakʿah.

The longest surah: the peak of the Qurʾān. Āyat al-Kursī, the last two verses, Banī Isrāʾīl, and the great legal passages.

The Birth of Maryam, ʿĪsā ﷺ, the Battle of Uḥud, and constancy of the believers under trial.

Family law, inheritance, the rights of women, and the treatment of hypocrites and People of the Book.

Dietary law, wuḍūʾ, the Last Supper of ʿĪsā ﷺ, and the final revelation completing the religion.

Tawḥīd against Arab polytheism. Ibrāhīm's ﷺ search for God and the prohibition on blood, carrion, and pork.

Ādam ﷺ and Iblīs, the stories of the prophets, the people of the Heights between Paradise and Hell.

Revealed after Badr. Distribution of war spoils, ethics of warfare, and qualities of the true believers.

The only surah without Basmala. Jizyah, disavowal of polytheists, the hypocrites, and Tabūk.

Tawḥīd, the response to those who deny prophethood, and Yūnus ﷺ and his people's acceptance of faith.

Stories of seven prophets and their peoples. "Stand firm as you have been commanded" its weight on the Prophet ﷺ.

The most beautiful of stories. Yūsuf's ﷺ patience, trials, and ultimate triumph. Lessons of trusting Allah.

Divine power in creation, the glorification of thunder, and the verse: "Verily, Allah does not change a condition of a people..."

Ibrāhīm's ﷺ prayer for Makkah, the parable of the good word like a good tree, and gratitude for blessings.

Protection of the Qurʾān, Iblīs's refusal to prostrate, and the fate of the people of al-Ḥijr (Thamūd).

The bee as a sign of divine wisdom. Blessings of Allah enumerated. The prohibition of what was made lawful by custom.

The miraculous Night Journey to Jerusalem and Ascent (Miʿrāj). The Ten Commandments of Islam and Banī Isrāʾīl.

Four stories: the People of the Cave, the Two Men, Mūsā and Khiḍr ﷺ, and Dhū l-Qarnayn. Protection from Dajjāl.

Zakariyyā's ﷺ prayer for a son, the birth of Yaḥyā ﷺ, Maryam's miraculous delivery of ʿĪsā ﷺ, and rejection of shirk.

Mūsā ﷺ at the Burning Bush, his mission to Pharaoh, the sorcerers' conversion, and Ādam ﷺ's trial in the Garden.

A gallery of eighteen prophets ﷺ. Tawḥīd, the unity of the prophetic message, and Dhū l-Nūn in the whale.

The call to Ḥajj by Ibrāhīm ﷺ, permission to fight in self-defence, and the verse of prostration.

The qualities of the successful believers. The stages of human creation. Stories of Nūḥ, Hūd, Mūsā, and ʿĪsā ﷺ.

The Verse of Light, the ruling on zinā and qadhf, the exoneration of ʿĀʾishah ؓ, and modesty in the home.

The Qurʾān as the criterion between truth and falsehood. Qualities of ʿIbād al-Raḥmān the servants of the Most Merciful.

Stories of Mūsā, Ibrāhīm, Nūḥ, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lūṭ, Shuʿayb ﷺ. The Qurʾān is not poetry it is revelation.

Sulaymān's ﷺ armies, the hoopoe and the Queen of Sheba (Bilqīs), the ant's warning. Verses of prostration.

The full story of Mūsā ﷺ from birth through the Exodus. Qārūn's arrogance and his swallowing by the earth.

The web of the spider as a metaphor for false supports. Trials as purification. Lūṭ's ﷺ people and Shuʿayb ﷺ.

The prophecy of the Roman victory. Signs of Allah in creation: sleep, marriage, thunder, and the disparity of tongues.

The wisdom of Luqmān to his son: tawḥīd, gratitude, prayer, patience, and forbidding evil.

Creation in six days, the human's creation from clay, and the rewards of those who rise at night in prayer.

The Battle of the Trench. The Prophet's ﷺ marriages. The trust (amānah) borne by humanity. The ḥijāb ruling.

The people of Sabaʾ and their destroyed gardens. The ingratitude of those blessed with prosperity.

Allah as the Creator of the angels. The parable of the blind and the seeing. The inheritors of the Scripture.

The heart of the Qurʾān. The people of the city and the believing man who came running. Resurrection proved.

The angels in ranks. Ibrāhīm's ﷺ willingness to sacrifice his son. Yūnus ﷺ in the belly of the whale.

Dāwūd's ﷺ trial and repentance. Sulaymān's ﷺ horses and trial. Ayyūb's ﷺ patience. The proud refusal of Iblīs.

Sincerity of worship for Allah alone. The groups entering Hell and Paradise. Do not despair of Allah's mercy.

Allah forgives sins and accepts repentance. The believing man from Pharaoh's family who spoke the truth.

The Qurʾān as detailed guidance and healing. The fate of ʿĀd and Thamūd. The testimony of limbs on the Day.

Mutual consultation in community affairs. The unity of all prophetic religion. How Allah speaks to His servants.

The Qurʾān in Arabic. Ibrāhīm's ﷺ rejection of his father's tradition. ʿĪsā ﷺ as a sign, not a god.

The smoke of the Day of Judgement. The fate of Pharaoh's people in the sea. The tree of Zaqqūm.

Every nation crouching before its record. Those who take their desires as their god. Divine signs in creation.

The jinn who listened to the Qurʾān. Devotion to parents. The fate of ʿĀd in the sandhills of al-Aḥqāf.

The rulings of warfare, captives, and the virtues of martyrdom. A test for the believers' sincerity.

The Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah as a manifest victory. The pledge of Riḍwān under the tree. The vision of Makkah's opening.

Adab with the Prophet ﷺ. Verifying news. Brotherhood, backbiting, and avoiding suspicion. True faith vs. submission.

Resurrection is certain. The recording angels. The Day of Judgement described. "We created man and know what his soul whispers."

Oaths by the winds, clouds, ships, and angels. The guests of Ibrāhīm ﷺ. "I created jinn and men only to worship Me."

Oaths by the Mount, the written scroll, and the sea. The punishment of those who denied, and the reward of the pious.

The Prophet's ﷺ Night Journey confirmed. The intercession of idols refuted. The verse of prostration.

The splitting of the moon. Nūḥ, ʿĀd, Thamūd, Lūṭ, and Pharaoh all denied and were destroyed.

"Which of your Lord's favours will you both deny?" The refrain repeated 31 times. Gardens of Paradise described.

Mankind divided into three groups on the Day. The Foremost, the Companions of the Right, and the Companions of the Left.

Iron as a gift. Spending in the way of Allah. The monks and priests who went astray. The light of the believers.

The woman who disputed with the Prophet ﷺ and Allah heard her. Ẓihār prohibited. Adab in gatherings.

The expulsion of Banū al-Naḍīr. Distribution of fayʾ. The beautiful names of Allah in the final verses.

Testing believing women who emigrate. No alliance with those who fight the believers. Ibrāhīm ﷺ as a model.

Fighting in the way of Allah in solid ranks. ʿĪsā's ﷺ prophecy of the Prophet Aḥmad ﷺ coming after him.

The obligation of Friday prayer. The Gentiles (Ummiyyūn) blessed with a prophet. Do not scatter when trade is called.

The characteristics of the hypocrites, their false oaths, and their hollow testimonies. Spending before death comes.

The Day of mutual disillusion. Wealth and children as a trial. Forgiveness and patience with wives and children.

The detailed rulings of divorce: iddah, housing, and nursing. "Allah will make a way out for whoever fears Him."

The Prophet ﷺ making something lawful forbidden. Tawbah nasūḥ sincere repentance. The wives of Nūḥ and Lūṭ as a warning.

The surah that protects from the punishment of the grave. Allah's dominion, death as a test, and the fate of those who deny.

The Prophet ﷺ is not mad he is upon a great character. The parable of the owners of the garden who did not say "if Allah wills."

The Inevitable Event the Day of Judgement. ʿĀd and Thamūd destroyed. The records of deeds given in right or left hand.

The stairways to Allah. The Day that stretches fifty thousand years. The qualities of the true worshippers.

Nūḥ's ﷺ long call to his people nine hundred and fifty years. His supplication and the drowning of the disbelievers.

The jinn who heard the Qurʾān and believed. The mosque belongs to Allah do not call upon any besides Him.

The command to stand in night prayer. The Qurʾān as a heavy word. Patient perseverance in the face of rejection.

The first command to warn. The punishment of al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah for his slander of the Qurʾān. The nineteen angels.

The oath by the Day of Resurrection. Man's self-blaming soul. The collection and recitation of the Qurʾān by Allah.

Man created from a drop of fluid then tested. The righteous who feed the poor, the orphan, and the captive for Allah's sake.

Oaths by the emissary winds and angels. "Woe that Day to the deniers" repeated ten times. The fate of the wrongdoers.

The Great News the Day of Judgement. The earth, mountains, sleep, the sun, and rain as signs of resurrection.

Oaths by the angels who drag out souls. Mūsā ﷺ and Pharaoh. The Day the earth is made bare.

The Prophet ﷺ frowned at the blind man ibn Umm Maktūm. Every soul accountable for itself on the Day.

The sun folded up, stars falling, seas set ablaze. The Qurʾān is not the word of a devil it is from the Trustworthy Spirit.

The sky cleaved open. The Noble Scribes recording deeds. Man's ingratitude despite Allah's fashioning him in the best form.

Destruction to those who short-change in measures. The record of the wicked in Sijjīn; the record of the righteous in ʿIlliyyūn.

The sky sundered. Man toiling toward his Lord. The record given in the right hand easy reckoning; the left destruction.

The People of the Trench who burned believers. The Throne of Allah, the Preserved Tablet, and Allah's encompassing power.

Every soul has a guardian over it. Man created from gushing water. The Qurʾān is a decisive word not jest.

Glorify the name of your Lord the Most High. "We will make you recite so you will not forget." The Books of Ibrāhīm and Mūsā ﷺ.

The Overwhelming Event faces humiliated and faces radiant. The camel, the sky, the mountains, and the earth as signs.

Oaths by the dawn and ten nights. ʿĀd, Thamūd, and Pharaoh destroyed. The soul at peace returning to its Lord.

An oath by Makkah. The freeing of a slave, feeding an orphan and the destitute the steep path of righteousness.

Seven oaths culminating in the human soul and its two paths: purification or corruption. Thamūd who hamstrung the she-camel.

Two contrasting types of people. The one who gives and fears Allah eased to the easy path. The miser to the hard path.

Allah did not forsake the Prophet ﷺ. From orphan to guided, from poor to rich so do not oppress the orphan.

The expanding of the Prophet's ﷺ chest. Hardship with ease repeated twice. When free, strive, and turn to your Lord.

Oaths by the fig, olive, Mount Sinai, and this secure city. Man created in the best form then reduced to the lowest.

The first revelation: "Read in the name of your Lord who created." Man created from a clot yet becomes transgressive.

The Qurʾān revealed on the Night of Power. Better than a thousand months. Angels and the Spirit descend with every decree.

The People of the Book did not scatter until the Clear Proof came. The best of creation and the worst their destinies.

The earth's tremendous earthquake. The earth speaks its news. Whoever does an atom's weight of good or evil will see it.

Oaths by the war horses. Man is ungrateful to his Lord and loves wealth intensely. The graves' contents scattered.

The Striking Calamity the Day of Judgement. Scales of deeds: heavy a pleasant life; light the mother of hawks.

Mutual rivalry in amassing wealth diverts you until you visit the graves. You will be questioned about the Naʿīm.

Imam al-Shāfiʿī: if only this surah were revealed, it would suffice mankind. All are at loss except four qualities.

Woe to every slanderer and mocker who collects wealth and counts it. The crushing fire of al-Ḥuṭamah.

The Year of the Elephant: Abraha's army destroyed by birds pelting them with stones of baked clay.

The blessing of Quraysh's safe journeys and the obligation to worship Allah, who fed them and secured them.

The one who drives away the orphan and does not encourage feeding the poor. Praying to be seen. Withholding small kindnesses.

Allah has given the Prophet ﷺ al-Kawthar (the river of Paradise). The one who hates him is the one cut off.

A surah of complete disavowal. "To you your religion and to me mine." The quarter of sincerity alongside Al-Ikhlāṣ.

When the victory of Allah comes and the people enter the religion in crowds glorify and seek forgiveness. The farewell surah.

Abū Lahab and his wife destroyed. A miraculously fulfilled prophecy both died as disbelievers, as the surah declared.

Equal to one-third of the Qurʾān. The complete negation of all polytheistic attributes: Allah is One, Eternal, Uncaused.

Seeking refuge from the evil of created things, darkness, the blowers in knots (siḥr), and the envier.

Seeking refuge in the Lord, King, and God of mankind from the whispering devil who whispers in the breasts of men and jinn.