111
Muhammad Asad
AL-MASAD (THE TWISTED STRANDS)
THE
HUNDRED-ELEVENTH SURAH
Total Verses: 5
Introduction
THIS very early suruh - the sixth in the order of revelation
- derives its name from its last word. It relates to the bitter hostility
always shown to the Prophet's message by his uncle Abu Lahab:
a hostility rooted in his inborn arrogance, pride in his great wealth, and a
dislike of the idea, propounded by Muhammad, that all human beings are equal
before God and will be judged by Him on their merits alone (Ibn
Zayd, as quoted by Tabari
in his commentary on the first verse of this surah).
As reported by several unimpeachable authorities - Bukhari
and Muslim among them - the Prophet ascended one day the hillock of As-Safa in
IN THE NAME OF
GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF
GRACE:
(1) DOOMED are the hands of him of the glowing countennce: 1 and doomed is he!
(2) What will his wealth avail him, and all
that he has gained?
(3) [In the life to come] he shall have to endure a fire
fiercely glowing; 2
(4) together with his wife, that
carrier of evil tales, 3
(5) [who bears] around her neck a
rope of twisted strands! 4
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1 The real name of this uncle of
the Prophet was Abd al-Uzza.
He was popularly nicknamed Abu Lahab (lit., "He
of the Flame") on account of his beauty, which was most notably expressed
in his glowing countenance (Baghawi, on the authority
of Muqatil; Zamakhshari and
Razi passsim in their
comments on the above verse; Fath al-Bari VIII, 599), Since this nickname, or kunyah appears to have been applied to him even before the
advent of Islam, there is no reason to suppose that it had a pejorative
significance. - The expression "hands" in the above clause is, in
accordance with classical Arabic usage, a metonym for "power", alluding
to the great influence which Abu Lahab wielded.
2 The expression nar dhat lahab
is a subtle play upon the meaning of the nickname Abu Lahab.
3 Lit., "carrier of firewood",
a well-known idiomatic expression denoting one who surreptitiously carries evil
tales and slander from one person to another "so as to kindle the flames
of hatred between them" (Zamakhshari; see also Ikrimah, Mujahid and Qatadah, as quoted by Tabari). The
woman's name was Arwa umm Jamil
bint Harb ibn Umayyah; she was a sister of
Abu Sufyan and, hence, a paternal aunt of Muawiyah, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty. Her hatred of
Muhammad and his followers was so intense that she would often, under the cover
of darkness, scatter thorns before the Prophet's house with a view to causing
him hurt; and she employed her great eloquence in persistently slandering him
and his message,
4 The term masad
signifies anything that consists of twisted strands, irrespective of the
material (Qamus, Mughni, Lisan al-Arab). In the abstract sense in which it is
evidently used here, the above phrase seems to have a double connotation: it
alludes to the woman's twisted, warped nature, as well as to the spiritual
truth that "every human being's destiny is tied to his neck" (see 17:13
and, in particular, the corresponding note 17) - which, together with verse 2,
reveals the general, timeless purport of this surah.