Sūrah Al-ʿĀdiyāt The Charging Steeds
سورة العاديات
Al-Ṭabarī documents the notable disagreement between ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and Ibn ʿAbbās on the identity of the "charging steeds" cavalry horses or Hajj camels making this one of the clearest Companion-level tarjīḥ cases in his Tafsīr, resolved primarily through linguistic analysis of the root ʿ-d-w.
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī
Al-Ṭabarī documents the ʿAlī vs. Ibn ʿAbbās disagreement in detail, noting that when Ibn ʿAbbās heard of ʿAlī's Hajj-camels interpretation, he sought ʿAlī to debate it and presented the linguistic case for war horses. Al-Ṭabarī then independently analyses each of the five oaths: "al-ʿādiyāt ḍabḥā" the horses charging while panting (ḍabḥ is the sound of breath in swift motion applied to horses in pre-Islamic poetry, not camels); "al-mūriyāt qadḥā" striking fire with hooves (hooves on rock strike sparks a battle scene); "al-mughīrāt ṣubḥā" raiding at dawn (a classic pre-Islamic cavalry tactic). Each oath points linguistically to warfare, not to the Hajj journey.
On the human ingratitude sequence (100:6–8), al-Ṭabarī reads "inna l-insāna li-rabbihi la-kanūd" as establishing that the human is ungrateful to the Lord who gave him the very horses and capability being sworn upon. He records via Qatādah chain that "kanūd" in the Arabian dialect of Kinānah means "ungrateful" a man who eats alone, beats his slave, and withholds gifts. Al-Ṭabarī uses this dialectical evidence as part of his linguistic tarjīḥ methodology.
- Companion tarjīḥ methodology: Al-Ṭabarī explicitly sides with Ibn ʿAbbās over ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib based on linguistic evidence demonstrating that his tarjīḥ follows proof, not authority rank.
- Ḍabḥ analysis: The panting sound (ḍabḥ) is attested in pre-Islamic poetry specifically for running horses al-Ṭabarī uses poetic citation as linguistic evidence for the warfare interpretation.
- Sequential oath logic: The three oaths (charging, fire-striking, dawn-raiding) form a logical sequence a cavalry raid narrative in miniature supporting the warfare reading over the Hajj interpretation.
- Dialectal evidence: Al-Ṭabarī's use of the Kinānah tribal dialect meaning of "kanūd" illustrates his method of drawing on regional Arabic dialect variation to pin down Quranic vocabulary.
- Self-witness principle: Al-Ṭabarī reads "wa innahu ʿalā dhālika la-shahīd" as establishing that the human is the primary witness to his own ingratitude making external denial legally irrelevant.