Tafsir of Fussilat 41:16

"So We sent upon them a Sarsar (piercing) wind." Mujahid said: "Intensely hot (samum)." This is from al-sarr (with a fatha on the sad), meaning heat. Ibn Abbas, al-Dahhak, Qatadah, and al-Suddi said: "Cold, which destroys by the intensity of its cold." This is from al-sirr (with a kasra on the sad), which is the cold that yasurru—that is, gathers and constricts the outer skin of a person. The former is more suitable for the dwellings of the Arabs. Al-Suddi, Abu Ubaydah, Ibn Qutaybah, al-Tabari, and a group also said: "Noisy," from sariy-sar, if it makes a sound. Ibn al-Sikkit said: Sarsar may be from al-sarrah, which is the cry (shout), as in: "Then his wife came forward with a sarrah (a loud cry)." It is in the Hadith that the Almighty commanded the guardians of the wind, and they opened upon them [a gap] the size of a ring; had they opened the size of a bull's nostril, the world would have been destroyed. It is narrated that it would carry camels with their loads and throw them into the sea.

"In days of ill-omen (nahisat)." This is the plural of nahisah (with a kasra on the ha), a passive participle functioning as an adjective from nahusa (it was ill-omened), like ’alima (to know), the opposite of sa’ada (to be auspicious), like sa’ada (to be happy).

The people of the Two Holy Cities (Mecca and Medina), Abu Amr, al-Nakha’i, Isa, and al-A’raj read it (nahsat) with a quiescent ha. It is possible that it is an infinitive used as an adjective for emphasis, or it is possible that it is an adjective abbreviated from a verb, like sa’ba. In al-Bahr, I investigated what the morphologists mentioned regarding what comes as an adjective from an intransitive verb, and they did not mention fa’l with a quiescent middle radical; rather, they mentioned fa’il with a kasra (like farih), af’al (like ahwar), fa’lan (like shab’an), and fa’il (like salim). It is an adjective for "days," and it is pluralized with the alif and ta because it is an adjective for something that has no intellect. What is intended by them is that they were "unlucky" for them, because they were punished during them. A single day is described as unlucky or auspicious in relation to two people; it is said to be auspicious for the one who enjoys it, and it is said to be unlucky for the one who is punished in it. This is not from the "special properties of times" which people claim. However, al-Kirmani mentioned in his Manasik (rites), on the authority of Ibn Abbas, that he said: "The days are all for Allah the Almighty, but He, glory be to Him, created some of them as unlucky and some as auspicious." Interpreting nahisat as "unlucky" is narrated from Mujahid, Qatadah, and al-Suddi. Al-Dahhak said: "Meaning intensely cold, to the extent that the cold was a punishment for them." Al-Asma’i recited poetry regarding al-nahs meaning cold: As if its wine was mixed with cold.

It was also said: Nahisat means "dusty," and al-Jubba’i leaned toward this, as in the statement of the rajaz poet: He went out before the rising of the sun for the hunt on a day of little dust. Meaning "little dust." These days were from the end of February and are called the "Days of the Old Woman." According to what is narrated from Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Qatadah, they were the end of Shawwal, from Wednesday to Wednesday. It is narrated that no nation was punished except on a Wednesday. Al-Suddi said: "The first of them was the morning of Sunday." Al-Rabi’ bin Anas said: "Friday."

"To let them taste the punishment of disgrace in the life of the world." The punishment is attributed to al-khizy (disgrace), which is humiliation, with the intention of describing it, according to the saying of the Almighty: "And the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgraceful." Originally, this is an adjective of the one being punished, and the punishment is described by it through metaphorical attribution for emphasis, for it indicates that the humiliation of the disbeliever increased to the point that his punishment was described by it, as established in the saying: "A poet's poem." This is in response to their arrogance and haughtiness. It was read as tudhiqahum (to let you/them taste) with the ta, on the basis that the subject is the pronoun of the "wind" or the "ill-omened days."

"And they are not helped." "...by repelling the punishment from them in any way."