Makkan — with one ayah from the road of the Hijrah
The last years in Makkah; one ayah on the road of the Hijrah itself
It is Makkan; al-Ḥasan, ʿAṭāʾ and ʿIkrimah held all of it so. Ibn ʿAbbās excepted one ayah, the eighty-fifth, which came down at al-Juḥfah, on the road, as the Prophet ﷺ was leaving for Madinah — so that, as Ibn al-Jawzī puts it, it is neither Makkan nor Madinan. Muqātil also held four ayat about believers from the People of the Book (28:52–55) to be Madinan. The traditional order places the surah forty-ninth.
وَهِيَ مَكِّيَّةٌ كُلُّها غَيْرَ آَيَةٍ مِنها، وهي قَوْلُهُ: ﴿إنَّ الَّذِي فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ القُرْآنَ﴾ [القَصَصِ: ٨٥] فَإنَّها نَزَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ وهو بِالجُحْفَةِ في وقْتِ خُرُوجِهِ لِلْهِجْرَةِ، هَذا قَوْلُ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍمَكِّيَّةٌ كُلُّهَا فِي قَوْلِ الْحَسَنِ وَعِكْرِمَةَ وَعَطَاءٍ وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ وَقَتَادَةُ إِلَّا آيَةً نَزَلَتْ بَيْنَ مَكَّةَ وَالْمَدِينَةِThe same, in other works
- al-BaghawīMaʿālim al-tanzīlAhl al-Sunnah in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan.
سُورَةُ الْقَصَصِ مَكِّيَّةٌ
- al-Suyūṭīal-Durr al-manthūrAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Ibn ʿAbbās: it came down in Makkah. Recorded by Ibn al-Ḍurays, al-Naḥḥās, Ibn Mardawayh and al-Bayhaqī.
أخْرَجَ ابْنُ الضُّرَيْسِ، والنَّحّاسُ، وابْنُ مَرْدُوَيْهِ، والبَيْهَقِيُّ في الدَّلائِلِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قالَ: نَزَلَتْ سُورَةُ القَصَصِ بِمَكَّةَ
A report he gathers; its chain is not graded here.
- al-RāzīMafātīḥ al-ghaybAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Makkan; some except what he names.
مَكِّيَّةٌ كُلُّها إلّا قَوْلَهُ ﴿الَّذِينَ آتَيْناهُمُ الكِتابَ مِن قَبْلِهِ هم بِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ﴾ إلى قَوْلِهِ: ﴿لا نَبْتَغِي الجاهِلِينَ﴾ وقِيلَ: إلّا آيَةً وهي ﴿إنَّ الَّذِي فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ القُرْآنَ﴾ الآيَةِ، وهي سَبْعٌ أوْ ثَمانٌ وثَمانُونَ آيَةً
- Abū al-SuʿūdIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmMāturīdī in creedḤanafī in fiqh→
Makkan; some except what he names.
مَكِّيَّةٌ، وقِيلَ إلّا قَوْلَهُ: ﴿الَّذِينَ آتَيْناهُمُ الكِتابَ﴾ إلى قَوْلِهِ: ﴿الجاهِلِينَ﴾ وهي ثَمانٍ وثَمانُونَ آيَةً
Each line of English says what the Arabic beneath it says.
What was happening
The believers in Makkah were few, poor and hunted, and the men who hunted them owned the city. This surah opens by telling them how Allah regards that arrangement: “Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and divided its people into factions, oppressing a group of them… And We wished to show favour to those who were oppressed in the land, and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors.”
It then tells the life of Mūsā from before he could speak. His mother is inspired to nurse him and, when she fears for him, to cast him into the river. Pharaoh’s own household takes him in. His sister follows at a distance; he refuses every nurse until he is returned to his mother. Grown, he strikes a man and kills him, and has to flee. At the water of Madyan he finds two women holding back their flock, waters it for them, and then sits in the shade and says: “My Lord, I am in need of whatever good You send down to me.” He is given work, a wife, and ten years. On the way back, with his family, he sees a fire.
Every stage is one the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions could recognise: the powerlessness, the flight, the years abroad, the return with a mission. And as he left Makkah by night, grieving at the sight of it, the ayah came down at al-Juḥfah: “He who ordained the Qurʾan for you will surely bring you back to a place of return.” Ibn ʿAbbās said: to Makkah.
The surah has a second tyrant, of a different kind. Qārūn was of Mūsā’s own people, and his treasure was such that its keys alone weighed down a band of strong men. “I was given it only because of knowledge I have,” he said. He went out before his people in his finery, and those who wanted this life said, “If only we had the like of what Qārūn has been given.” Then the earth swallowed him and his house. Quraysh, too, had their rich men — and one sentence from them is quoted: “If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched from our land.”
What came down about what
Abū Ṭālib
When Abū Ṭālib was dying, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to him and found Abū Jahl and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Umayyah with him. He said: “Uncle, say ‘lā ilāha illā Allāh’ — a word by which I can plead for you before Allah.” The two said: “Abū Ṭālib, will you turn from the religion of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib?” They kept at him until the last thing he said was that he was upon the religion of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. And Allah sent down about Abū Ṭālib: “You do not guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills.”
Al-Musayyib ibn Ḥazn: al-Bukhārī (4772) and Muslim (24).
Ṣaḥīḥ
At al-Juḥfah
On “He will surely bring you back to a place of return”, Ibn ʿAbbās said: “To Makkah.”
Ibn ʿAbbās: al-Bukhārī (4773).
Ṣaḥīḥ
ذكر الموازين الحقيقية للقوى، من خلال إظهار قدرة الله وسنُتَّه بنصرة المستضعفين وإهلاك المستكبرين.
To set out the true scales of power, by showing Allah’s might and His way of helping the oppressed and destroying the arrogant.
The surah’s aim, as al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Tafsīr states it
- The oppressed made heirs
- The life of Mūsā
- Pharaoh
- Guidance is in Allah’s hand
- Qārūn and his treasure
- The promise of return
Its aims, as Ibn ʿĀshūr sets them out
اشتملت هذه السورة على التنويه بشأن القرآن والتعريض بأن بلغاء المشركين عاجزون عن الإتيان بسورة مثله. وعلى تفصيل ما أجمل في سورة الشعراء [18، 19] من قول فرعون لموسى ألم نربك فينا وليدا إلى قوله وأنت من الكافرين ففصلت سورة القصص كيف كانت تربية موسى في آل فرعون.
وبين فيها سبب زوال ملك فرعون.
وفيها تفصيل ما أجمل في سورة النمل [7] من قوله إذ قال موسى لأهله إني آنست نارا ففصلت سورة القصص كيف سار موسى وأهله وأين آنس النار ووصف المكان الذي نودي فيه
From its first ayah to its last
- 1–66 ayat · 4% of the surahRead from ayah 1 →
The rule
Ṭā Sīn Mīm. We recite to you something of the news of Mūsā and Pharaoh, in truth. Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people factions, oppressing one group — slaughtering their sons and sparing their women. We wished to favour those who were oppressed in the land, and make them leaders and heirs.
- 7–137 ayat · 8% of the surahRead from ayah 7 →
The infant in the river
We inspired the mother of Mūsā: nurse him, and when you fear for him, cast him into the river, and do not fear or grieve; We shall return him to you. Pharaoh’s family picked him up, to be an enemy and a grief to them. Pharaoh’s wife said, “A comfort to my eye and yours; do not kill him.” We returned him to his mother, that her eye might be comforted.
- 14–2815 ayat · 20% of the surahRead from ayah 14 →
The flight, and Madyan
When he reached his full strength, We gave him judgement and knowledge. He struck a man and killed him: “My Lord, I have wronged myself; forgive me.” A man came running from the far side of the city: “Mūsā, the chiefs are conferring to kill you.” He left, afraid. At the water of Madyan he watered the flock of two women, then turned to the shade: “My Lord, I am in need of whatever good You send down to me.” One of them said, “Father, hire him: the best you can hire is the strong, the trustworthy.”
- 29–4214 ayat · 16% of the surahRead from ayah 29 →
The call, and Pharaoh’s end
When Mūsā had completed the term and was travelling with his family, he saw a fire on the side of the Mount. He was called from the tree: “Mūsā, I am Allah, Lord of the worlds.” Pharaoh said, “Chiefs, I know of no god for you other than me. Hāmān, kindle me a fire upon the clay and build me a tower, that I may look at the God of Mūsā.” We seized him and his hosts and flung them into the sea.
- 43–6119 ayat · 22% of the surahRead from ayah 43 →
You were not there — yet you tell it
You were not on the western side when We decreed the matter to Mūsā, nor were you dwelling among the people of Madyan; but it is a mercy from your Lord. Those to whom We gave the Scripture before it believe in it: they will be given their reward twice over. You do not guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills. They say: “If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be snatched from our land.” Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary?
- 62–7514 ayat · 12% of the surahRead from ayah 62 →
The Day He calls them
The Day He calls to them: “Where are My partners whom you used to claim?” Your Lord creates what He wills and chooses. If Allah made the night unending over you, what god but Allah could bring you light? From every nation We shall draw out a witness, and say: “Bring your proof.”
- 76–849 ayat · 14% of the surahRead from ayah 76 →
Qārūn
Qārūn was of the people of Mūsā, and he oppressed them. We had given him treasures whose keys would weigh down a band of strong men. His people said: “Do not exult. Seek, through what Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter, and do not forget your share of this world.” He said: “I was given it only for knowledge I possess.” He went out before his people in his adornment. Then We made the earth swallow him and his dwelling. That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who want neither exaltation in the land nor corruption.
- 85–884 ayat · 5% of the surahRead from ayah 85 →
The return
He who ordained the Qurʾan upon you will surely bring you back to a place of return. You did not expect that the Book would be conveyed to you; it is only a mercy from your Lord. So do not be a supporter of the disbelievers. Call on no other god with Allah. Everything will perish but His Face. His is the judgement, and to Him you will be returned.
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 95% of its ayat, and the rhyme turns 5 times. One of those turns comes 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
No authenticated report specific to this surah is recorded here.
The name it is known by
From its twenty-fifth ayah: when Mūsā came to the old man of Madyan “and told him the story”. It is also called Sūrat Mūsā, and Ṭā Sīn Mīm.
Its place in the muṣḥaf
Ayat you will hear named
- 28:5We wished to favour those who were oppressed
- 28:7The inspiration to the mother of Mūsā
- 28:24“My Lord, I am in need of whatever good You send me”
- 28:26The strong, the trustworthy
- 28:56You do not guide whom you love
- 28:77Do not forget your share of this world
- 28:85He will bring you back to a place of return
- 28:88Everything will perish but His Face
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)
- تفسير الرازيMafātīḥ al-ghaybFakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606 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 and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
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.