Differed over
Makkah, on one saying from Ibn ʿAbbās; Madinah, on the other
Ibn al-Jawzī sets out two sayings, each with a report from Ibn ʿAbbās behind it. That it is Makkan: related from him by ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, and held by al-Ḥasan, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, ʿAṭāʾ and Qatādah. That it is Madinan: related from him by ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, and held by Jābir ibn Zayd. Each side then excepts a few ayat for the other. Al-Qurṭubī reports the same division; Ibn Kathīr heads it Makkan, and its subjects — the oneness of Allah, the resurrection, the truth of the message — are those of the Makkan surahs. The muṣḥaf heads it Madinan, and the traditional order places it ninety-sixth.
اخْتَلَفُوا في نُزُولِها عَلى قَوْلَيْنِ: أحَدُهُما: أنَّها مَكِّيَّةٌ، رَواهُ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أبِي طَلْحَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ، وبِهِ قالَ الحَسَنُ، وسَعِيدُ بْنُ جُبَيْرٍ، وعَطاءٌ، وقَتادَةُوالثّانِي: أنَّها مَدَنِيَّةٌ، رَواهُ عَطاءٌ الخُراسانِيُّ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ، وبِهِ قالَ جابِرُ ابْنُ زَيْدٍسُورَةُ الرَّعْدِ مَكِّيَّةٌ فِي قَوْلِ الْحَسَنِ وَعِكْرِمَةَ وَعَطَاءٍ وَجَابِرٍ، وَمَدَنِيَّةٌ فِي قَوْلِ الْكَلْبِيِّ وَمُقَاتِلٍThe same, in other works
- al-BaghawīMaʿālim al-tanzīlAhl al-Sunnah in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan.
سُورَةِ الرَّعْدِ مَكِّيَّةٌ
- al-Suyūṭīal-Durr al-manthūrAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Ibn ʿAbbās: it came down in Makkah. Recorded by al-Naḥḥās.
أخْرَجَ النَّحّاسُ في ناسِخِهِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قالَ: سُورَةُ الرَّعْدِ نَزَلَتْ بِمَكَّةَ
A report he gathers; its chain is not graded here.
- al-ShawkānīFatḥ al-qadīr→
It is differed over, Makkan or Madinan. Al-Naḥḥās relates from Ibn ʿAbbās that it came down in Makkah.
قَدْ وقَعَ الخِلافُ هَلْ هي مَكِّيَّةٌ أوْ مَدَنِيَّةٌ ؟ فَرَوى النَّحّاسُ في ناسِخِهِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ أنَّها نَزَلَتْ بِمَكَّةَ
- Abū al-SuʿūdIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmMāturīdī in creedḤanafī in fiqh→
Madinan; Makkan is also said.
سُورَةُ الرَّعْدِ مَدَنِيَّةٌ، وقِيلَ: مَكِّيَّةٌ إلّا قَوْلَهُ: ﴿وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا﴾ الآيَةَ وآيُها ثَلاثٌ وأرْبَعُونَ
Each line of English says what the Arabic beneath it says.
What was happening
Its first ayah states the difficulty the whole surah addresses: “What has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth; but most people do not believe.” If it is the truth, why is it not winning? Why do those who deny it prosper, and demand a sign, and go unpunished? The surah answers by changing where the listener is looking.
It looks up. “Allah is He who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see, then rose over the Throne, and pressed the sun and the moon into service, each running to an appointed term.” It looks down: “In the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of vines, and crops, and palms in clusters and alone — watered with one water; yet We make some better than others to eat.” It looks inward: “Allah knows what every female carries, and by how much the wombs fall short or exceed. Everything with Him is by measure.” Each person has angels in succession, before him and behind him, guarding him by Allah’s command.
Then the storm. “He it is who shows you the lightning, for fear and for hope, and raises the heavy clouds. The thunder glorifies Him with His praise, and so do the angels, in awe of Him.” Ibn al-Jawzī records that most held the next words — “He sends the thunderbolts and strikes with them whom He wills, while they dispute about Allah” — to have come down about two men who came to the Prophet ﷺ meaning to kill him, one of whom was burned by a bolt out of a clear summer sky.◇ Anas ibn Mālik relates them of another man: a tyrant among the Arabs who was called to Allah three times, and each time asked what Allah was made of; at the third, a bolt fell on him from a cloud over his head.◇
And out of the storm, the surah’s great image. The water comes down and the valleys flow, each according to its measure, and the torrent carries a swelling foam; and from the ore that men heat in the fire for ornaments and tools there rises a scum like it. “Thus Allah sets out truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it passes away as dross; and as for what benefits people, it remains in the earth.” Falsehood is loud, and on top, and soon gone. That is the answer to the first ayah.
For those who hold to the truth while it is still under the surface, the surah has the gentlest line it could give: “Those who believe, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Truly, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.”
- Related, not gradedRelated by the commentators without a graded chain; not established as authentic.
What came down about what
The thunderbolt
Arbad ibn Qays and ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ meaning to kill him. He said: “O Allah, suffice me against them by what You will.” As for Arbad, Allah sent a thunderbolt upon him on a clear summer’s day, and it burned him; and ʿĀmir was struck by a tumour and died. Then Allah sent down this ayah.
Ibn al-Jawzī, who says: “this is the saying of the majority, among them Ibn Jurayj.” Al-Ṭabarī, al-Baghawī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr and al-Suyūṭī relate it too.
Related, not gradedRelated by the commentators without a graded chain; not established as authentic.
أرْبَدَ بْنِ قَيْسٍ، وعامِرِ بْنِ الطُّفَيْلِ، أتَيا إلى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ يُرِيدانِ الفَتْكَ بِهِThe man who asked what Allah is made of
Anas ibn Mālik said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent to one of the tyrants among the Arabs, calling him to Allah. He said to the messenger: “And what is Allah? Is He of gold, or of silver, or of copper?” The man returned and told the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “Go back to him and call him.” He went back, and was answered as before — and so a third time. While the two were exchanging words, Allah sent a cloud over the man’s head; it thundered, a thunderbolt fell from it and carried off the top of his skull, and this ayah came down.
Anas ibn Mālik: Abū Yaʿlā and al-Bazzār, as Ibn Kathīr and Ibn al-Jawzī give it. Al-Haythamī said that the men of al-Bazzār’s chain are those of the Ṣaḥīḥ, apart from Daylam ibn Ghazwān, who is trustworthy.
Related, not gradedRelated by the commentators without a graded chain; not established as authentic.
بَعَثَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ إلى بَعْضِ فَراعِنَةِ العَرَبِ يَدْعُوهُ إلى اللَّهِ تَعالىبيان حقيقة القوة والقدرة الإلهية ومظاهرها، وإثبات الوعد والوعيد وسُنَّة الله في التغيير والتبديل.
To show what power truly is — the power of Allah, and where it is seen — and to affirm the promise and the threat, and Allah’s way in changing and replacing.
The surah’s aim, as al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Tafsīr states it
- Signs in the sky and the soil
- Everything by measure
- The thunder’s praise
- Truth and falsehood: the foam and the ore
- The people of understanding
- Hearts at rest in remembrance
- Change begins within
- He erases and confirms
Its aims, as Ibn ʿĀshūr sets them out
أقيمت هذه السورة على أساس إثبات صدق الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم فيما أوحي إليه من إفراد الله بالإلهية والبعث وإبطال أقوال المكذبين فلذلك تكررت حكاية أقوالهم خمس مرات موزعة على السورة بدءا ونهاية.
ومهد لذلك بالتنويه بالقرآن وأنه منزل من الله، والاستدلال على تفرده تعالى بالإلهية بدلائل خلق العالمين ونظامهما الدال على انفراده بتمام العلم والقدرة وإدماج الامتنان لما في ذلك من النعم على الناس.
ثم انتقل إلى تفنيد أقوال أهل الشرك ومزاعمهم في إنكار البعث.
From its first ayah to its last
- 1–77 ayat · 18% of the surahRead from ayah 1 →
The truth, and the signs
Alif Lām Mīm Rā. These are the ayat of the Book; and what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth, but most people do not believe. Allah is He who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see. He spread out the earth, and set in it firm mountains and rivers. In the earth are neighbouring tracts, watered with one water. If you wonder — then wondrous is their saying: “When we are dust, shall we be in a new creation?” They say: “Why has no sign been sent down to him?” You are only a warner; and for every people there is a guide.
- 8–1811 ayat · 29% of the surahRead from ayah 8 →
Knowledge, thunder, and the parable
Allah knows what every female carries. For each there are angels in succession, before and behind him. Allah does not change what is in a people until they change what is in themselves. He shows you the lightning, for fear and hope; the thunder glorifies Him with His praise. To Him is the true call. To Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows too. He sends down water from the sky, and the valleys flow by their measure, and the torrent carries a rising foam. As for the foam, it passes away as dross; and what benefits people remains in the earth (13:17).
- 19–2911 ayat · 18% of the surahRead from ayah 19 →
The people of understanding
Is one who knows that what has been sent down to you is the truth like one who is blind? Those who fulfil the covenant of Allah; who join what Allah has commanded to be joined; who are patient, seeking the Face of their Lord; who keep up the prayer, spend secretly and openly, and repel evil with good — theirs is the final home: gardens of Eden, and the angels entering upon them from every gate: “Peace be upon you, for what you patiently bore.” Those who believe, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.
- 30–378 ayat · 24% of the surahRead from ayah 30 →
A Qurʾan that would move mountains
Thus We have sent you among a community before which others have passed, while they disbelieve in the Most Merciful. Were there a Qurʾan by which mountains could be moved, or the earth cleft, or the dead made to speak — the whole matter belongs to Allah. Messengers were mocked before you. Is He who stands over every soul, watching what it has earned, like any other? The likeness of the Garden promised to the mindful: rivers flow beneath it; its fruit is everlasting, and its shade.
- 38–436 ayat · 11% of the surahRead from ayah 38 →
The Mother of the Book
We sent messengers before you, and gave them wives and offspring. For every term there is a decree. Allah erases what He wills and confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book. Whether We show you part of what We promise them or take you first, upon you is only the conveying. Do they not see that We come to the land, reducing it from its borders? Those who disbelieve say: “You are not a messenger.” Say: “Allah is enough as a witness between me and you.”
The division into passages is a reading aid, written for this page; it is not part of the muṣḥaf. Each passage is drawn as long as its words are.
The sound each ayah closes on
Read aloud, every ayah closes on a sound — its fāṣilah — and the closes answer one another for a stretch, then turn. Each sound this surah closes on is a line of the staff below, and the surah is the gold line stepping along them, an ayah at a time: where it steps to another line, the rhyme turns. The dotted lines are where its passages begin.
Its commonest close carries 33% of its ayat, and the rhyme turns 29 times. 3 of those turns come just where a new passage begins, as this page divides the surah.
Move along the staff to see what each ayah closes on.
Computed from the text, each ayah as it is said when the reciter stops on it: the last vowel falls away, tanwīn on alif is said as a long ā, and tāʾ marbūṭah as h. Closes the ear hears as one rhyme share a line — -ūn, -īn and -īm; -ān and -ām — and an ayah that is only the opening letters closes on the name of its last letter.
From the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions
The Jews came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: “Abū l-Qāsim, tell us about the thunder: what is it?” He said: “One of the angels, put in charge of the clouds; with him are rods of fire with which he drives the clouds where Allah wills.” They said: “And this sound that we hear?” He said: “His driving of the clouds, when he urges them on, until they reach where he has been commanded.” They said: “You have spoken the truth.”“The keys of the unseen are five, which none knows but Allah: none knows what tomorrow holds but Allah; none knows what the wombs fall short of but Allah; none knows when the rain will come but Allah; no soul knows in what land it will die; and none knows when the Hour will arise but Allah.”The name it is known by
From its thirteenth ayah: “The thunder glorifies Him with His praise, and so do the angels, in awe of Him.”
Its place in the muṣḥaf
Ayat you will hear named
- 13:2The heavens raised without visible pillars
- 13:4One water, differing fruit
- 13:11Until they change what is in themselves
- 13:13The thunder glorifies Him
- 13:15An ayah of prostration
- 13:17The foam, and what remains
- 13:20–24The people of understanding, and the angels’ greeting
- 13:28Hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah
- 13:31A Qurʾan by which mountains could be moved
- 13:39He erases and confirms
Where this comes from
The figures at the head of the page are counted from the text. The Arabic quotations are taken letter for letter from the copies of the classical works held on this site, and each links to the passage it stands in. The rest was written for Mishkāt from the works below. It is an introduction, not a tafsir: where it matters, read the scholars themselves.
Works quoted on this page
- تفسير البغويMaʿālim al-tanzīlal-Ḥusayn al-Baghawī (d. 516 AH)
- تفسير ابن الجوزيZād al-masīrAbū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH)
- تفسير القرطبيal-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-QurʾānShams al-Dīn al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH)
- تفسير ابن كثيرTafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīmIsmāʿīl ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH)
- الدر المنثورal-Durr al-manthūrJalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH)
- فتح القدير للشوكانيFatḥ al-qadīrMuḥammad al-Shawkānī (d. 1250 AH)
- تفسير أبي السعودIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmAbū al-Suʿūd al-ʿImādī (d. 982 AH)
- التحرير والتنويرal-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīrMuḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393 AH)
- المختصر في التفسيرal-Mukhtaṣar fī al-tafsīrMarkaz Tafsīr, a committee of scholars
Beside each scholar quoted stand his creed and his school of fiqh, so that he can be read with discernment. The site’s library holds other commentaries as well; the introductions do not draw on them.
al-Qurṭubī is quoted on these pages only for what he transmits: who said a surah is Makkan or Madinan, and what it has been called. On the attributes of Allah his commentary interprets, in places, in the way of the Ashʿarīs rather than the way of the Salaf, and nothing of that is taken from him here.
al-Rāzī and Abū al-Suʿūd are quoted on these pages only for where a surah came down, and Ibn ʿĀshūr only for the aims of the surah. Nothing on the attributes of Allah is taken from them, and no report comes by way of them. Ibn ʿĀshūr’s statement of the aims is not in the site’s copy of his book: it is read from the Shamela typing as OpenITI holds it, with reports and al-Zamakhsharī’s words left out, and it links to its page there.
Every hadith here says where it is recorded and how it is graded. What is in al-Bukhārī or Muslim is marked ṣaḥīḥ. Outside the two, the grading followed is al-Albānī’s; where none of his was found, the scholar who graded it is named. A report known to be weak or fabricated is not given here at all. A report that is ḥasan, or a Companion’s own saying, or related by the commentators without a graded chain, says so beside it. In the account of what was happening, a small sign after a sentence says the same of the report that sentence tells, and a question mark stands where a date or a figure is not certain, or beside a grading — underlined — that has something to say about its own source: rest on it, or touch it, and it gives the reason. What is drawn from the sīrah — the campaigns, the dates, who was present — is history as its scholars transmit it, and is not graded here.
Also drawn on
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī; Jāmiʿ al-Tirmidhī; Mālik, al-Muwaṭṭaʾ
The order of revelation is the one printed at the head of each surah in the Egyptian muṣḥaf, which rests on lists transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir ibn Zayd. It places a surah by where it began. Many surahs came down in parts, over years, and the scholars treat the list as a guide, not a certainty.