(وَالسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ)
(11. By the sky which gives rain, again and again.)
(وَالاّرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ)
(12. And the earth which splits.)
(إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ)
(13. Verily, this is the Word that separates.)
(وَمَا هوَ بِالْهَزْلِ)
(14. And it is not a thing for amusement.)
(إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْداً)
(15. Verily, they are but plotting a plot.)
(وَأَكِيدُ كَيْداً)
(16. And I am planning a plan.)
(فَمَهِّلِ الْكَـفِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْداً)
(17. So, give a respite to the disbelievers; deal gently
with them for a while.)
Swearing to the Truthfulness of the Qur'an and the
Failure of Those Who oppose it
Ibn `Abbas said, "Ar-raj` means rain.'' It has also
been narrated from him that he said, "It means the clouds that contain
rain.'' He also said,
﴿وَالسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ
﴾
(By the sky (having rain clouds) which gives rain, again
and again.) "This means that it rains and then it rains (again).'' Qatadah
said, "It returns the sustenance of the servants (creatures) every year.
Were it not for this, they would all be destroyed and so would their cattle.''
﴿وَالاّرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ
﴾
(And the earth which splits.) Ibn `Abbas said,
"Splitting to bring forth plant growths.'' This was also said by Sa`id bin
Jubayr, `Ikrimah, Abu Malik, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, As-Suddi and others.
Concerning Allah's statement,
﴿إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ ﴾
(Verily, this is the Word that separates.) Ibn `Abbas
said (Fasl is), "True.'' Qatadah also said the same. Someone else said,
"A just ruling.''
﴿وَمَا هوَ بِالْهَزْلِ ﴾
(And it is not a thing for amusement.) meaning, rather it
is serious and true. Then Allah informs about the disbelievers saying that they
reject Him and hinder others from His path. Allah says,
﴿إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْداً
﴾
(Verily, they are but plotting a plot.) meaning, they
plot against the people in their calling them to oppose the Qur'an. Then Allah
says,
﴿فَمَهِّلِ الْكَـفِرِينَ﴾
(So, give a respite to the disbelievers;) meaning, wait
for them and do not be in haste concerning them.
﴿أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْداً﴾
(deal gently with them for a while.) meaning, a little
while. This means that you will see what befalls them of torment, punishment
and destruction. This is as Allah says,
﴿نُمَتِّعُهُمْ قَلِيلاً ثُمَّ
نَضْطَرُّهُمْ إِلَى عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ ﴾
(We let them enjoy for a little while, then in the end We
shall oblige them to (enter) a great torment.) (31:24) This is the end of the
Tafsir Surat At-Tariq, and unto Allah is all praise and thanks.