[Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt]

100

The saying of the Exalted: "By the racers, panting."

19441 - From Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent out cavalry, but a month passed without any news from them, so the following was revealed: "By the racers, panting," they panted with their legs.

19442 - From Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: While I was sitting in the Hijr, a man came to me and asked about "the racers, panting." I said: They are the horses when they conduct a raid in the way of Allah, then they settle at night to prepare their food and light their fires. He turned away from me and went to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who was sitting under the Zamzam trough, and asked him about "the racers, panting." ʿAlī said: "Did you ask anyone about this before me?" He said: "Yes, I asked Ibn ʿAbbās, and he said they are the horses when they conduct a raid in the way of Allah." ʿAlī said: "Go and call him to me." When I stood before him, he said: "You issue rulings to people about what you have no knowledge of! By Allah, the first battle in Islam was Badr, and we had only two horses with us: a horse belonging to al-Zubayr and a horse belonging to al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad. How then could [the verse refer to] the racers, panting? Rather, the racers, panting are [the mounts] from ʿArafāt to Muzdalifah. When they reach Muzdalifah, they light their fires. Then the ones that charge at dawn from Muzdalifah to Minā, that is the gathering (Jamʿ). As for His saying: 'And stir up dust thereby,' it is the dust of the earth when they trample it with their hooves and feet." Ibn ʿAbbās said: I withdrew my own opinion and returned to what ʿAlī said.

19443 - By way of al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAbd Allāh, regarding "By the racers, panting," he said: It is the camels. Ibrāhīm said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib also said: "It is the camels." And Ibn ʿAbbās said: "That was only regarding a specific detachment (sariyyah) that was sent out."

19444 - By way of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from ʿAṭā’, from Ibn ʿAbbās, regarding "By the racers, panting," he said: There is no animal that pants except for a dog or a horse. And as for "the strivers (making fire) by striking," he said: It is...