Sūrat ʿAmma Yatasaʾalūn

Meccan. It is called Sūrat al-Nabaʾ (The Chapter of the Tidings). It consists of forty or forty-one verses.

It was revealed after [Sūrat] al-Maʿārij.

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

{About what are they asking one another? * About the Great Tidings * Concerning which they are in disagreement.}

{عَمَّ} (About what): Its origin is ‘an mā (عن ما), as it is a preposition (‘an) that has entered upon the interrogative mā. This is how it appears in the recitation of ‘Ikrimah and ‘Isa ibn ‘Umar. Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “For what (‘alā mā) does a base man stand to insult me, like a pig rolling in ashes?”

Common usage dictates the omission [of the alif in mā]. The original meaning of this interrogation is to emphasize the magnitude of the matter, as if He said: "About what great matter are they asking?" It is similar to your saying: "Zayd, what is Zayd?" You use this structure because his peer is absent and he has no equal, as if his nature is hidden from you, so you ask about his essence and investigate his substance—just as you say: "What is the Ghul? What is the ‘Anqa?" meaning: "What kind of thing is it among all things?" This is its origin; then the expression was stripped of the [need for] emphasis, until it appeared in the speech of the One from whom no hidden thing is concealed.

{يَتَسَاءَلُونَ} (They are asking one another): They are asking one another, or they are asking others—the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the believers—similar to the forms yatadā‘ūnahum (they call one another) and yatarā’ūnahum (they see one another). The pronoun refers to the people of Makkah: they would ask one another about the Resurrection, and they would ask others about it by way of mockery.

{عَنِ النَّبَإِ الْعَظِيمِ} (About the Great News): This is an explanation of the emphasized matter.

Ibn Kathir recited it as ‘ammah (عمه) with the ha of silence (sakt). This is either treating the connection as a pause, or he pauses and then begins with {يَتَسَاءَلُونَ}, implying a hidden object [for the first ‘ammah] that the following phrase explains, like something made vague and then clarified.

If you ask: You claimed the pronoun in yatasa’alūn refers to the disbelievers. What do you do with His saying: {الَّذِي هُمْ فِيهِ مُخْتَلِفُونَ} (That in which they are in disagreement)?

I say: Among them were those who were certain in their denial of the Resurrection, and among them were those who doubted. It is also said that the pronoun refers to both the Muslims and the disbelievers, as both were asking about it: the Muslim to increase in fear and preparation, and the disbeliever to increase in mockery. It is also said that what is being asked about is the Qur’an, or the Prophethood of Muhammad (ﷺ).

It has been recited as yusā’alūn (with idghām) and sata‘lamūn (with a tā’).

{كَلَّا سَيَعْلَمُونَ * ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَيَعْلَمُونَ} (Nay, they will come to know! Then, nay, they will come to know!)