Tafsir of An-Najm 53:61

Meaning: [Are you] heedless, as narrated from Ibn Abbas in response to Nafi ibn al-Azraq. He cited in support of this the verse by Huzaylah bint Bakr, as she wept for the people of ‘Ad:

"Would that 'Ad had accepted the truth and had not manifested denial." It is said: "Arise, look at them, then leave aside al-sumud (heedlessness/indifference)."

In another narration, when he [Ibn Abbas] was asked about al-sumud, he said: "It is al-bartamah (pouting), which is raising the head in arrogance." That is: "You are raising your heads in arrogance." This interpretation—al-bartamah—is also narrated from Mujahid. Al-Raghib said: "The samid is the one who is idle, raising his head, derived from the camel that raises its head while walking."

Abu Ubaydah said: "In the dialect of Himyar, al-sumud means singing. They say: 'O maidservant, ismudi lana,' meaning 'sing for us.'" It is also narrated similarly from Ikrimah. Abd al-Razzaq, al-Bazzar, Ibn Jarir, al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan, and others recorded from Ibn Abbas that he said: "It is singing in the Yemeni dialect; when they heard the Quran, they would sing to distract themselves from it." It is also said that they did this to distract people from listening to it.

The nominal sentence in all these interpretations is a state (hal) of the subject of "Do you not weep?" Its content is a restriction on the negation, and the rebuke is directed at the negation of weeping and the existence of al-sumud.

Al-Mubarrad said: "Al-sumud means stillness and humility," as in the verse: "The vicissitudes of time struck the women of the tribe of Sa'd, with a calamity to which they stood still (samadna), turning their black hair white and their white faces black."

In this view, the sentence is also a state (hal) of the subject of "Do you not weep?", except that its content is a restriction on what is negated, and the rebuke is directed at the negation of both weeping and stillness together—so do not be heedless.

In the codices of Ubayy and Abdullah, [it is written] tadhakun (you laugh) without the "wa" (and). Al-Hasan read it as ta'jabuna tadhakun (you wonder, you laugh), without the "wa," with the two tas having a damma (u-vowel), and the jim and ha having a kasra (i-vowel).

The verse is used as evidence, as in Ahkam al-Quran, for the desirability of weeping when hearing the Quran and reading it. Al-Bayhaqi recorded in Shu’ab al-Iman from Abu Hurayrah, who said: "When the verse, 'Is it then from this discourse...' was revealed, the people of the Suffah wept until their tears flowed down their cheeks. When the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) heard their moaning, he wept with them, so we wept because of his weeping. Then he (peace be upon him) said: 'He who weeps out of fear of Allah Almighty will not enter the Fire, and he who persists in his disobedience will not enter Paradise. And if you were not to sin, Allah would bring a people who would sin, then seek His forgiveness, and He would forgive them.'"

Ahmad in al-Zuhd, Ibn Abi Shaybah, Hannad, and others recorded from Salih Abu al-Khalil, who said: "When this verse was revealed—'Is it then from this discourse that you wonder, and laugh, and do not weep?'—the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) never laughed after that, except to smile." The wording of Abd ibn Humayd is: "The Prophet (peace be upon him) was not seen laughing or smiling until he departed from the world." In this is a closure to the act of laughing during the recitation of the Quran, even if it is not out of mockery—and we seek refuge in Allah.