Qur'an and Tafsir, Surah 44
الدخان
The Smoke
They swore they would believe if the smoke lifted. It lifted.
59 ayat, Makkan, Awaiting scholar review
Makkah
Makkah's leaders have heard the message: one God, and the dead will rise.
They are not sure it is false. So they joke. He was coached, they say. He is mad.
This surah is what they are told next.
Journey map
Ad-Dukhān 44:3First, where the message came from.
إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَٰهُ فِي لَيۡلَةࣲ مُّبَٰرَكَةٍۚ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنذِرِينَ ٣
3 Indeed, We sent it down during a blessed night. Indeed, We were to warn [mankind].
A closer look
Which night? The Night of Decree, in Ramadan, most commentators say. That night the Qur'an was brought down to the lowest heaven. Then it was revealed in parts, over about 23 years.
Ad-Dukhān 44:9And what is Makkah doing with the message?
بَلۡ هُمۡ فِي شَكࣲّ يَلۡعَبُونَ ٩
9 But they are in doubt, amusing themselves.
Ad-Dukhān 44:10So the Prophet [saw] is told to watch.
فَٱرۡتَقِبۡ يَوۡمَ تَأۡتِي ٱلسَّمَآءُ بِدُخَانࣲ مُّبِينࣲ ١٠
10 Then watch for the Day when the sky will bring a visible smoke
Ad-Dukhān 44:12Under the smoke, the people make a promise.
رَّبَّنَا ٱكۡشِفۡ عَنَّا ٱلۡعَذَابَ إِنَّا مُؤۡمِنُونَ ١٢
12 [They will say], "Our Lord, remove from us the torment; indeed, we are believers."
Ad-Dukhān 44:15The reply is dry.
إِنَّا كَاشِفُواْ ٱلۡعَذَابِ قَلِيلًاۚ إِنَّكُمۡ عَآئِدُونَ ١٥
15 Indeed, We will remove the torment for a little. Indeed, you [disbelievers] will return [to disbelief].
The story behind it
The smoke had already come, said Ibn Mas'ud. Famine struck Quraysh until they ate bones. A man would look up, weak with hunger, and see a haze like smoke. Rain came. They went back to mocking.
Where scholars differ
Ibn Mas'ud: the smoke was the famine in Makkah. 'Ali and Ibn 'Abbas: a sign before the Last Hour. Ibn Kathir leans to the second, because the smoke covers "the people", not one town.
A closer look
A storyteller in Kufa is guessing at the smoke. Ibn Mas'ud is told. He sits up and says: part of knowledge is to say "Allah knows best" when you do not know.
Ad-Dukhān 44:17It has happened before, to richer people.
۞ وَلَقَدۡ فَتَنَّا قَبۡلَهُمۡ قَوۡمَ فِرۡعَوۡنَ وَجَآءَهُمۡ رَسُولࣰ كَرِيمٌ ١٧
17 And We had already tried before them the people of Pharaoh, and there came to them a noble messenger [i.e., Moses],
Egypt, long before
Musa crosses by night. The water still stands open behind him, and he wants to close it. He is told to leave it. The road that saved his people will bring the army in.
How translators put it
The Arabic word in ayah 24 is rare. One translation says leave the sea "in stillness", another says "parted". An early gloss: a dry path, just as it is.
Ad-Dukhān 44:25The drowning of Pharaoh's army is not shown. This is:
كَمۡ تَرَكُواْ مِن جَنَّٰتࣲ وَعُيُونࣲ ٢٥
25 How much they left behind of gardens and springs
Ad-Dukhān 44:29Then the line the surah is known for.
فَمَا بَكَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ وَٱلۡأَرۡضُ وَمَا كَانُواْ مُنظَرِينَ ٢٩
29 And the heaven and earth wept not for them, nor were they reprieved.
A closer look
A man asked Ibn 'Abbas. Yes, he said. Each person has a gate in the sky where their good deeds rise, and a place where they prayed. Both miss a believer. Pharaoh's people left neither.
Ad-Dukhān 44:36Back in Makkah, the deniers make a demand.
فَأۡتُواْ بِـَٔابَآئِنَآ إِن كُنتُمۡ صَٰدِقِينَ ٣٦
36 Then bring [back] our forefathers, if you should be truthful."
The story behind it
The reply asks about Tubba', the title of Yemen's kings. Ibn Kathir tells of one who spared Madinah, then honoured the Ka'bah and covered it in cloth. His people were still destroyed.
Ad-Dukhān 44:38Makkah is playing. The universe is not.
وَمَا خَلَقۡنَا ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ وَمَا بَيۡنَهُمَا لَٰعِبِينَ ٣٨
38 And We did not create the heavens and earth and that between them in play.
Ad-Dukhān 44:49One ending. A man in the Fire is told:
ذُقۡ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡكَرِيمُ ٤٩
49 [It will be said], "Taste! Indeed, you are the honored, the noble!
The story behind it
Reports say Abu Jahl boasted he was the mightiest man between Makkah's two mountains. Ibn Kathir adds a caution: the ayah includes him, but is not about him alone.
Ad-Dukhān 44:51The other ending starts with one word: safe.
إِنَّ ٱلۡمُتَّقِينَ فِي مَقَامٍ أَمِينࣲ ٥١
51 Indeed, the righteous will be in a secure place:
One phrase, two meanings
A closer look
Ibn Kathir quotes a hadith here: death is brought out in the form of a ram and slaughtered between Paradise and the Fire. Then both are told: for ever, no more death.
Ad-Dukhān 44:59The surah ends before the story does.
فَٱرۡتَقِبۡ إِنَّهُم مُّرۡتَقِبُونَ ٥٩
59 So watch, [O Muḥammad]; indeed, they are watching [for your end].
Reflect, just for you
Virtue of the surah
Narrations encourage reciting Ha Mim ad-Dukhan at night and on the eve of Friday. They are graded weak: recite it for its message.
Tirmidhi 2888 to 2889
Da'if (weak)The scholars behind this grading are still to be named.
Seen by lamplight. It gives more each time.
They swore they would believe if the smoke lifted. It lifted.