Sūrah Al-Infiṭār The Cleaving: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالانفطارMakkī 19 versesCosmic signs, human ingratitude, recording angels, Day of Recompense

Key DisagreementWhat is "whatever form He willed, He assembled you in" (82:8)?Human form debateAl-Ṭabarī: Allah's absolute freedom in determining each person's unique physical form through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās and prophetic narrations on divine creative freedom

Competing OpinionsAre the kirāman kātibīn (noble writers, 82:11) two angels or one?Recording angelsAl-Ṭabarī: two one for good deeds (right), one for bad deeds (left) through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās consistent with his earlier analysis in Sūrah Qāf

MethodologyCross-referencing with earlier angel-recording analysis in Sūrah QāfIntra-tafsīr consistencyAl-Ṭabarī explicitly connects his analysis here with his earlier analysis in Sūrah Qāf showing his awareness of cross-surah consistency in tafsīr

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

The human ingratitude argument (82:6–8) "O man, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous, who created you, proportioned you, and assembled you in whatever form He willed?" is analyzed through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās as one of the Quran's most direct divine challenges to human ingratitude. Al-Ṭabarī traces the chain: the "deception" is the human's false sense of self-sufficiency and the Devil's whispering that divine generosity means impunity for sin. The three verbs (created, proportioned, assembled) are analyzed as three stages of divine formation.

The recording angels (82:10–12) "kirāman kātibīn" (noble, recording) are analyzed by al-Ṭabarī through chains from Ibn ʿAbbās: they are noble (karīm) because of their status before Allah, and recorders (kātibīn) because they actually write. He notes "kirāman" may indicate both their noble character and the way they treat the humans they record with care and accuracy. He cross-references his Sūrah Qāf analysis (50:17–18) for consistency on the two-angel system.

يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ الَّذِي خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّاكَ فَعَدَلَكَ Yā ayyuhā l-insānu mā gharraka bi-rabbika l-karīmi lladhī khalaqaka fa-sawwāka fa-ʿadalak "O man, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous, who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you?" (82:6–7) Al-Ṭabarī presents chains from Ibn ʿAbbās on "mā gharraka" (what deceived you): the deception is the human assumption that divine generosity means no accountability.

وَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ لَحَافِظِينَ كِرَامًا كَاتِبِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ Wa-inna ʿalaykum la-ḥāfiẓīna kirāman kātibīna yaʿlamūna mā tafʿalūn "And indeed, appointed over you are keepers, noble and recording, who know whatever you do." (82:10–12) Al-Ṭabarī analyzes "kirāman" through chains and cross-references his Qāf analysis two angels of noble character who record accurately, knowing both what is done and how it is done.

Three-stage creation: Al-Ṭabarī's analysis of "created, proportioned, assembled" as three distinct stages of divine human formation is one of his more detailed anthropological analyses.
Deception analysis: "Mā gharraka" is analyzed through chains as the human delusion that divine generosity means no accountability a psychological observation on shirk's root.
Cross-surah consistency: His explicit cross-reference to Sūrah Qāf's angel analysis shows al-Ṭabarī's awareness of consistency across his tafsīr.
Recording accuracy: "Yaʿlamūna mā tafʿalūn" (they know what you do) is analyzed through chains as indicating the angels' knowledge includes the manner and intention not just the act.
Day of Recompense: 82:17–18's "and what will make you know what is the Day of Recompense?" uses the rhetorical question twice al-Ṭabarī analyzes this doubling as indicating the Day's incomprehensibility.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

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