Tafsir of Al-Burooj 85:4

(Cursed are the People of the Trench): The lam (the particle of emphasis) has been omitted from it due to the length of the sentence, for the original is la-qutila (certainly cursed/destroyed are), as in the saying:

I swore an oath to her by God, the oath of a transgressor, That they would sleep, and neither conversation nor a companion [would be found].

It is said that the lam and qad have been omitted, and the original is la-qad qutila (most certainly, they have been cursed). This is based on the well-known rule that for a past-tense, positive, active verb whose object does not precede it, the lam is obligatory or preferred. Limiting the expression to one of them [the lam or qad] is only permitted when the speech is long, as in His, the Exalted’s, saying: "He has succeeded (qad aflaha) whoever purifies it," after His saying, "By the sun and its brightness," etc., and the aforementioned verse. It is not permissible to posit the lam without qad because it does not enter upon a past-tense verb stripped of qad. The complete discussion regarding this is in its place, such as in the commentaries on al-Tashil and others. Regardless, the sentence is declarative (khabariyyah).

Some researchers have said that the most apparent interpretation is that it is supplicatory (du’a’iyyah), indicating the [unspoken] answer to the oath. It is as if it were said: "I swear by these things (the stars/signs), the disbelievers of Quraysh are indeed cursed and deserving of it being said concerning them, 'They are cursed,' just as was the case with the People of the Trench." This is because the Surah was revealed to strengthen the believers in the faith they possess, to urge them to be patient regarding the harm inflicted by the disbelievers, and to remind them of what occurred to those before them regarding the torture of the people of faith and their patience therein. This is so they may find solace in them, remain patient with what they encounter from their own people, and know that they are like those [earlier believers] in the sight of God, the Mighty and Majestic, in terms of being cursed and cast away. Thus, "cursed" (qutila - literally "killed") here is an expression for the severest cursing and rejection, as true supplication [for killing] from Him, the Exalted, is impossible. Therefore, what is intended is its necessary implication: His wrath and expulsion from His mercy, the Sublime.

Others said the most apparent interpretation is to assume that [the meaning is]: "They shall be killed just as the People of the Trench were killed." It is a promise to him (may God bless him and grant him peace) regarding the killing of the rebellious disbelievers for the sake of exalting His religion, and it serves as a miracle regarding the killing of their leaders in the Battle of Badr. End quote. Its surface meaning is to leave "killing" (qatl) in its literal sense and to regard the sentence as declarative, which is as you see [i.e., questionable in this context]. It is related in al-Bahr that the answer [to the oath] is omitted, with the estimation "They shall certainly be resurrected," and the like, but it is nothing [of substance], as is obvious.

Al-Ukhdud (the trench): Al-khaddu is a furrow in the earth and the like in construction and meaning: al-khandaq (ditch) and al-ukhquq. From this is what came in the report of Suraqah when he followed the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace), and the hooves of his horse sank into the akhadiq (cracks/fissures) of rats.

Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and others extracted from the hadith of Suhayb, in marfu' form: There was a king among the kings, and that king had a sorcerer who practiced sorcery for him. The sorcerer said to him, "Find me a gifted boy, and I will teach him my knowledge, for I fear that I will die and this knowledge will be cut off from among you, and there will be no one among you who knows it." So they found him a boy according to the description, and they ordered him to attend to the sorcerer and frequent him. The boy began to frequent him, and there was a monk in a hermitage on the boy's path. The boy began to ask that monk [questions] whenever he passed by him, and he did not cease until he told him [the truth]. He said, "I only worship God, the Exalted." So the boy began to stay with the monk and be late for the sorcerer. The sorcerer sent [word] to the boy's family, [saying] that he was not attending him. The boy told the monk, and the monk said to him, "If the sorcerer says to you, 'Where were you?', say, 'With my family,' and if your family says, 'Where were you?', tell them you were with the sorcerer."

While the boy was in that state, he passed by a large group of people who had been detained by a beast—it is said it was a lion. The boy took a stone and said, "O God, if what the monk says is true, then I ask You to kill this beast, and if what the sorcerer says is true, then I ask You not to kill it." Then he threw it and killed the beast. The people said, "Who killed it?" They said, "The boy." The people were terrified and said, "This boy has learned knowledge that no one has learned." A blind man heard of him, came to him, and said, "If you restore my sight, you shall have such and such." The boy said, "I do not want anything from you, but tell me, if your sight is returned to you, will you believe in the One who returned it to you?" He said, "Yes." So he restored his sight, and the blind man believed.

The king learned of their affair and had them brought to him. He said, "I will surely kill each one of you with a death that I will not kill the other with." He ordered the monk and the man who had been blind; he placed the saw on the parting of the hair of one of them and killed him, and killed the other with another method. Then he ordered the boy and said, "Take him to such-and-such mountain and throw him from its peak." They took him to that mountain. When they reached the place from which they wanted to throw him, they began to fall from that mountain, tumbling down, until no one remained but the boy. Then the boy returned. The king ordered that they take him to the sea and throw him into it. They took him to the sea, and God, the Exalted, dispersed those who were with him, and God saved him.

The boy said to the king, "You cannot kill me until you crucify me, shoot me, and say, 'In the name of God, the Lord of the boy.'" He ordered him to be crucified, shot him, and said, "In the name of God, the Lord of the boy." The boy placed his hand on his temple when he was shot, then died. The people said, "This boy has learned knowledge that no one else has learned, so we believe in the Lord of this boy." It was said [to the king], "Are you terrified that your command will be disobeyed? Here is all the world disobeying you." So he took a trench, put firewood and fire in it, and gathered the people. He said, "Whoever returns from his religion, we will spare him, and whoever does not return, we will throw him into this fire." He began throwing them into that trench. Then God, the Exalted, said, (Cursed are the People of the Trench) until He reached, (The Exalted, the Praiseworthy).

Included in it is: As for the boy, he was buried, then he was brought out; it is mentioned that he came out in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him), and his hand was on his temple just as he had placed it when he was killed. In some of its narrations: A woman came with a small child of hers, and she hesitated to fall into the fire. The child said, "O mother, be patient, for you are on the truth."

Ibn Marduyah extracted from Abdullah ibn Naji, who said: I witnessed Ali (may God honor his face) when the Bishop of Najran came to him and asked him about the People of the Trench, and he narrated the story to him. Ali (may God honor his face) said: "I know them better than you. A prophet was sent from the Abyssinians to his people." Then he read (may God be pleased with him): "And We have already sent messengers before you; among them are those [whose stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We have not related to you." [Ali continued:] "He called them, and the people followed him. They fought him, and he killed his companions. He was taken and bound, but he escaped and fled. Men came to him, fought them, and they were killed. He was taken and bound, so they dug a trench and put fire in it. They began to present the people [to it]; whoever followed the prophet was thrown into it, and whoever followed them was spared. A woman came at the end of those who came, and with her was a child, and she was afraid. The child said, 'O mother, be patient and do not argue.' So she fell."

Abd ibn Humayd extracted from him (may God honor his face) that he said: The Magians were People of the Book and were holding fast to their book, and wine was permitted to them. One of their kings took from it, and it overcame his senses, so he took his sister or his daughter and had intercourse with her. When the drunkenness left him, he regretted it and said to her, "Woe to you, what is this that I have done, and what is the way out of it?" She said, "The way out of it is for you to address the people and say, 'O people, God the Exalted has permitted the marriage of sisters or daughters.'" The people—all of them—said, "God forbid that we should believe in this, or approve of it, or that a prophet should have brought it, or that it should have been sent down to us in a book." He returned to his companion and said, "Woe to you, the people have refused that." She said, "If they refuse you, then use the whip against them." He used the whip against them, but they refused to approve. She said, "Then bare the sword against them," and they refused to approve. She said, "Then dig a trench for them and light fires in it. Whoever follows you, let him go." So he dug a trench for them, lit fires in it, and presented the people of his kingdom with that. Whoever refused, he threw him into the fire, and whoever did not refuse, he let him go.

It is said that a man who was on the religion of Jesus (peace be upon him) happened upon Najran, and they responded to him. Dhu Nuwas the Jew went to them with soldiers from Himyar and gave them the choice between the fire and Judaism. They refused, so he burned twelve thousand of them in the trenches, and it is said seventy thousand. It is mentioned that the length of the trench was forty cubits and its width was twelve cubits. Due to the difference in reports regarding the story, they differed in the location of the trench. It is said in Najran, due to this last report, and it is said in the land of Abyssinia, due to the previous report of Ibn Naji. Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir extracted from Qatadah from Ali (may God honor his face) that it was in Madhra' of Yemen, meaning its villages. This does not contradict it being in Najran, because it is a city in Yemen. Likewise, they differed regarding the "People of the Trench" for that same reason, and more than ten opinions were cited regarding it, among them that they were Abyssinians, among them that they were Nabataeans—related from Ikrimah—and among them that they were from the Children of Israel—related from Ibn Abbas. The most sound of the narrations in my view regarding the story is what we presented from Suhayb (may God be pleased with him). Synthesis is possible; Isam al-Din said, "Perhaps all that was related actually happened, and the Quran is comprehensive of it," and [those who suggest otherwise] were inattentive.

Al-Hasan and Ibn Miqsam read quttila with a shaddah (doubling the 't'), which is an intensifier in cursing them due to the magnitude of what they committed. The Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace), according to what Ibn Abi Shaybah extracted from Awf and Abd ibn Humayd from al-Hasan, whenever the People of the Trench were mentioned, he would seek refuge from the hardship of affliction.