Al-Masad · Makki · ayah 4 of 5

Al-Masad 111:4

وَٱمْرَأَتُهُۥ حَمَّالَةَ ٱلْحَطَبِ

“And his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood.[2009]”

Saheeh International

Essence

She had rank, wealth and a famous family, and spent her nights carrying thorns to the path of the man she hated.

A reflection

Carrying firewood

'The carrier of firewood.' The commentaries hear two things in it, and both fit.

The first is literal. The reports say she gathered bundles of thorny branches. At night she scattered them on the path the Prophet ﷺ walked to prayer, to cut his feet and his companions'. One report says she did it every day.

The second is an old Arabic figure. To 'carry firewood' against someone was to carry tales. One poet praised a woman who never 'walked among the tribe with green firewood'. Green wood fills the air with smoke when it burns, so the tale-bearer adds not just fire but choking confusion. Another line mocked a whole clan as 'carriers of firewood, the tattlers in good times and bad'.

Firewood does not burn on its own. Someone has to gather it, carry it and set it down beside the flame. That is exactly what a tale does.

The Arabs had one more picture, the ḥāṭib layl, the wood-gatherer at night. His hand grabs whatever it finds in the dark, sound and rotten alike. Sometimes it closes on a viper. They used it for the one who repeats everything without checking, and is bitten by his own tongue.

An old Arab sage warned his sons: beware of tale-bearing, for it is a burning fire. The tale-bearer, he said, does in an hour what a sorcerer cannot do in a month.

We have more efficient ways of carrying firewood now. The screenshot forwarded 'just so you know'. The voice note that begins 'I'm not saying anything, but…'. The group chat where one person keeps a quarrel alive for weeks.

The two Sahihs report a telling scene. A man used to carry what people said to the local governor. He came and sat near Hudhayfa. The Companion made sure he heard: the Prophet ﷺ said that a tale-carrier will not enter Paradise. A small habit of the thumb can be a heavy load to carry.

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.