Tafsir of Al-Masad 111:1

Meccan. It contains 5 verses (revealed after al-Fatihah).

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. May the hands of Abu Lahab perish, and may he perish.

• Tabat (perish) means they have been lost and ruined. It is a supplication against him. The repetition in "and may he perish" is an affirmation of the first, or it refers to his person after the first referred to his hands.

2. His wealth and what he earned will not avail him.

• His wealth will not protect him from Allah’s punishment, nor will his earnings—which include his children, according to the most sound opinion.

3. He will [soon] burn in a Fire of blazing flame.

• He will enter a Fire that possesses lahab (flame), which is the rising, flickering tongue of fire.

4. And his wife [as well], the carrier of firewood.

• She used to carry thorny wood and cast it in the path of the Prophet (ﷺ) to harm him. Or, it is a metaphor for her carrying the "wood" of slander and gossip to fuel the fire of enmity against him.

5. Around her neck is a rope of twisted fiber.

• Masad is rope made of palm fibers. It is said she will be punished in Hell with a collar of fire, or that she will be dragged by a rope of fire as she used to carry wood in the worldly life.

"Tabba" (تب): Means destruction. From this is the saying: "Ashabatin am tabatin" (أشابة أم تابة), meaning: perishing from old age and helplessness. The meaning is: his hands have perished. It is narrated that he took a stone to throw at the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), so his hands perished, and he perished entirely. Or, his hands were made to be in a state of destruction, and the intent is the destruction of his entire being, like the Almighty’s saying: "For what your hands have sent forth" (Al-Hajj: 10).

"Wa tabba" (وتب): Means it has occurred and come to pass, like the verse: "He rewarded me—may Allah reward him with the worst of His rewards—the reward of the howling dogs, and he has indeed done so." This is supported by the reading of Ibn Mas‘ud: "Wa qad taba" (وقد تب).

The Reason for Revelation: It is narrated that when the verse "And warn your closest kindred" (Ash-Shu‘ara: 214) was revealed, the Prophet (ﷺ) climbed Mount Safa and called out, "Ya sabahah!" (a cry of alarm). People gathered from every direction. He said, "O Banu ‘Abd al-Muttalib, O Banu Fihr, if I told you that there were cavalry in the valley of this mountain, would you believe me?" They said, "Yes." He said, "Then I am a warner to you before a severe punishment." Abu Lahab said, "May you perish! Is this why you called us?" Then this Surah was revealed.

If you ask: Why was he addressed by his kunya (patronymic), when the kunya is a form of honor? I say: There are three aspects:

1. He was famous by his kunya rather than his name. Sometimes a man is known by one, so the kunya follows the name or vice versa as an appositive (‘atf bayan). The intent was not to honor him, but to ensure the name by which he is most known remains a mark upon him. This is supported by the reading "Yada Abu Lahab" (nominative), as one says "‘Ali ibn Abu Talib" or "Mu‘awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan," so that nothing is altered, which might confuse the listener.
2. His name was ‘Abd al-‘Uzza, so it was avoided in favor of his kunya.
3. Since he is among the people of the Fire and his final destination is a "Fire of flames" (dhat lahab), his state matched his kunya, making it appropriate to refer to him by it. It is said "Abu Lahab" just as one says "Abu al-Sharr" (Father of Evil) for an evil person, or "Abu al-Khayr" (Father of Good) for a good person.

"Ma aghna" (ما أغنى): An interrogative in the sense of negation. Its place is either accusative or a negation. "Wa ma kasaba" (وما كسب): Nominative. "Ma" is either a relative pronoun or an infinitive meaning "his earnings." The meaning: His wealth and what he earned with his wealth—meaning his capital and profits, or his livestock and what he gained from their offspring—did not avail him. Or it refers to the wealth he inherited from his father and what he earned himself. Ibn ‘Abbas said: "What he earned" refers to his children. It is said that when his sons quarreled, he stood to separate them, was pushed, and fell. He became angry and said, "Remove from me this 'wicked earning' (the children)."

"Sayasla" (سيصلى): Read with both fatha and damma on the ya, both light and heavy. The sin is for warning, meaning it will happen inevitably, even if the time is delayed.

"Wa imra'atuhu" (وامرأته): She is Umm Jamil bint Harb, the sister of Abu Sufyan. She used to carry bundles of thorns and brambles and scatter them at night on the path of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). It is also said she was a slanderer. One who spreads gossip to cause corruption is said to "carry firewood" between people, meaning they kindle the fire of discord.

"Hammalat al-hatab" (حمالة الحطب): Read in the accusative as an insult; I prefer this reading. It is also read in the nominative. "Al-masad" (المسد): That which is twisted tightly from ropes, whether of fiber, leather, or otherwise. The meaning is that she has a rope around her neck made of such twisted material. She carries that bundle of thorns and ties it around her neck as woodcutters do, to degrade her status and portray her in the image of a lowly wood-carrier, so that she and her husband—who are from a house of honor and wealth—might feel the sting of this humiliation.

Theological interpretation: It is possible the meaning is that her state in Hell will mirror her state in this world; she will have a bundle of firewood from the tree of Zaqqum or Dari‘ on her back, and a rope of twisted fire-chains around her neck, for every criminal is punished with that which corresponds to their crime.

From the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Whoever recites Surah Tabbat, I hope that Allah will not gather him and Abu Lahab in the same abode."