Al-Masad · Makki · ayah 1 of 5

Al-Masad 111:1

تَبَّتْ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ

“May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.[2008]”

Saheeh International

Essence

He threw 'Ruin to you' at the most truthful man in Makkah, and the word came back to land on his own hands.

A reflection

The alarm on the hill

It began with a cry of alarm. When the command came to warn his nearest kin (26:214), the Prophet ﷺ climbed the hill of al-Ṣafā. He called out yā ṣabāḥāh, 'O the morning'. Then he named the clans one by one: sons of Fihr, sons of ʿAdī, sons of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. Sahih al-Bukhari keeps a small, human detail. A man who could not come himself sent someone to find out what was happening.

When they had gathered, he asked them a question. If I told you horsemen were coming out from the foot of this hill, would you believe me? They said: we have never known you to tell a lie. Then, he said, I am a warner to you, ahead of a severe punishment.

Into that silence his uncle spoke. 'Ruin to you for the rest of the day. Is this what you gathered us for?' And he stood up.

The surah answered with his own word. Tabbat yadā Abī Lahab: ruined are the hands of Abu Lahab. Then two more words, wa-tabb: and ruined is he. The first can be heard as a verdict pronounced on him. The second reports it as already done. One early reading, preserved in the narrations, even says wa-qad tabb: 'and he has already been ruined'. That leaves no room to hear it as a mere wish.

Notice the shape of what he did. A moment earlier the whole crowd had agreed that this man never lied. The trust was real. Then the truth arrived in a form he did not like, and he withdrew the trust in a single sentence.

Picture a factory's morning briefing. The safety officer, who has never once raised a false alarm, says a roof beam is cracking and the floor must be cleared. Everyone nods; she is always right about these things. Then the owner's brother laughs: 'You stopped the line for this?' The room goes quiet, and the beam goes on cracking.

Such lines feel like the last word. This ayah is a reminder that they are sometimes the first word of a verdict on the one who speaks them.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.