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Surah 111 · Makkah · 5 āyāt
Phase 01 · Ḥirāʾ and the first call(c. 13–11 BH) — view in timelineAl-MasadThe Palm Fibre
المسد
One of the earliest Makkan surahs, revealed shortly after the Prophet ﷺ first proclaimed his message publicly at Mount Ṣafā. It names and condemns Abū Lahab, his uncle, and his wife Umm Jamīl for their open hostility to the daʿwah, declaring in advance — as a miracle of the Qurʾān — that both would perish as disbelievers, which duly came to pass.
Why it was revealed
The Prophet ﷺ climbed Mount Ṣafā and called out to Quraysh by their clans, warning them of a severe punishment if they did not testify to lā ilāha illā Llāh. Abū Lahab, his own paternal uncle, responded with open contempt and cursed him in front of everyone.
Drawn fromṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4770, 4801; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4801; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 208; al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān on Sūrat al-Masad; Ibn Kathīr; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on 111:4; Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما narrated: the Prophet ﷺ went out to al-Baṭḥāʾ and climbed the mountain, then called out, 'O ṣabāḥāh!' Quraysh gathered to him, and he said, 'Do you see — if I told you that horsemen were coming from behind this mountain to raid you, would you believe me?' They said, 'We have never known you to lie.' He said, 'Then I am a warner to you before a severe punishment.' Abū Lahab said, 'Tabban laka sāʾir al-yawm! Was it for this that you gathered us?' Then Allah revealed: 'Tabbat yadā Abī Lahabin wa-tabb.'
In the Prophet's ﷺ life
Public daʿwah begins at Mount Ṣafā
Allah commanded 'And warn your closest kindred' (26:214). The Prophet ﷺ climbed Ṣafā and called Quraysh clan by clan to bear witness to lā ilāha illā Llāh.
Recalled in āyah 1
تَبَّتْ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.
Cited toṢaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4770, 4801
- Madd — 2 vowels
- Madd — 2, 4 or 6 vowels
- Madd — 6 vowels (lāzim)
- Madd — 4 or 5 vowels (wājib)
- Ghunnah — 2 vowels
- Qalqalah
- Ikhfāʾ
- Ikhfāʾ shafawī
- Idghām shafawī
- Idghām with ghunnah
- Idghām without ghunnah
- Idghām mutajānisayn
- Idghām mutaqāribayn
- Iqlāb
- Hamzat al-waṣl
- Lām shamsiyyah
- Silent letter
Tajwīd markup and colour convention: Quran.com API (v4) — text_uthmani_tajweed. Recitation audio: Quran.com / Quran Foundation Audio API (v4).
The doom of Abū Lahab: wealth could not save him
Allah declares that Abū Lahab's own hands — the very instrument of his mischief — are ruined, and so is he. Neither his wealth nor what he earned availed him anything; he will enter a Fire of blazing flame.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
تَبَّتْ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.
مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained.
سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame
From the tafsīr
'Tabbat yadā Abī Lahabin' — may his hands perish, i.e. may he himself perish, since the hands are named for the whole. He is cursed by name and by his very kunyah, which meant 'flame', fitting his fate.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
'Mā aghnā ʿanhu māluhu wa mā kasab' — his wealth and what he earned, including his children according to some commentators, did not repel from him anything of Allah's decree.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
The repetition of ruin — 'perished' then 'and he has perished' — is emphasis: his loss in this world (opposing the truth) is matched by his loss in the next (the Fire).
Cited toAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
Key takeaways
- Open hostility to the truth, especially from one's own kin, is condemned by name in the Qurʾān itself.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- Wealth and worldly standing are no shield against Allah's decree.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- The surah was revealed as an immediate, public response — the Qurʾān answered his curse before the gathering had even dispersed.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
What do you place your confidence in besides sincere submission to Allah?
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Question 1 of 2
What did his wealth and what he earned do for him?
Question 2 of 2
What does the opening curse upon Abū Lahab's hands signify?
His wife: a carrier of firewood, a carrier of malice
Abū Lahab's wife, Umm Jamīl, is condemned alongside him: a 'carrier of firewood' — understood both literally, as she scattered thorns on the Prophet's ﷺ path, and figuratively, as one who carried tales and stoked enmity.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
وَٱمْرَأَتُهُۥ حَمَّالَةَ ٱلْحَطَبِ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
And his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood.
From the tafsīr
Ḥammālat al-ḥaṭab: she used to carry thorny branches and throw them in the Prophet's ﷺ path at night; it is also said to mean she carried gossip and slander between people, stirring up hatred.
Cited toIbn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
She was Umm Jamīl, Arwā bint Ḥarb ibn Umayyah, sister of Abū Sufyān — her partnership in his crime is named explicitly, showing that support for falsehood is not excused by kinship or gender.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
Key takeaways
- Harm to the daʿwah can take quiet, domestic forms — spite carried out with one's own hands, not only public speeches.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- The Qurʾān names her role as a partner in wrongdoing, not a bystander.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- 'Carrier of firewood' works on two levels at once: her literal deed and her habit of carrying malicious talk.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
Reflect
Do you ever 'carry firewood' — spreading words that fuel discord — without realising it?
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Check yourself
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Question 1 of 1
What double meaning does 'ḥammālat al-ḥaṭab' carry?
The rope of palm-fibre: fitting punishment for fitting crime
Around her neck will be a rope of twisted palm-fibre (masad) — the surah's closing image, giving it its name, and matching her deeds with a punishment suited to the tool of her harm.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
فِى جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍۭ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber.
From the tafsīr
Al-masad is a strong, twisted rope made of palm-fibre or fibrous plant material — used here as the cord that binds her in the Fire, just as she used cords to bundle her thorns in this life.
Cited toAl-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
It is said she used to carry the firewood tied with a rope of masad around her neck out of arrogance and spite; her punishment mirrors the very instrument of her transgression.
Cited toAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
Key takeaways
- Allah's justice fits punishment to the nature of the crime, even in fine detail.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
- The surah closes with an image, not an abstraction — making the warning vivid and unforgettable.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
- The surah's very name, al-Masad, is drawn from its final, most striking word.
Drawn fromAl-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
Reflect
What small, habitual act of harm might you be carrying, unaware of the weight it adds?
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Question 1 of 2
What is 'al-masad' as described in the final āyah?
Question 2 of 2
Why does the surah take its name, al-Masad, from this āyah?
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Roots from this surah
Learn the three-letter root and you unlock every word built from it — across the whole Qur'an, not just this surah.
ت ب ب
āyāt 1to perish, be ruined, cut off from all good
- تَبَّhe perished
- تَبَابutter ruin, loss
- تَبَّبَhe brought to ruin
ل ه ب
āyāt 1, 3flame, blazing fire
- لَهَبflame, blaze
- أَبُو لَهَبAbū Lahab, 'father of flame'
- مُلْتَهِبblazing, ablaze
ك س ب
āyāt 2to earn, acquire through effort
- كَسَبَhe earned
- كَسْبearning, gain
- مُكْتَسِبone who acquires
ح م ل
āyāt 4to carry, bear a load
- حَمَّالَةfemale carrier, habitual bearer
- حِمْلa load, burden
- حَامِلone who carries
ح ط ب
āyāt 4firewood, kindling
- حَطَبfirewood
- حَاطِبwood-gatherer
- ٱحْتَطَبَhe gathered firewood
م س د
āyāt 5twisted fibre, a strong cord of palm-fibre
- مَسَدtwisted palm-fibre rope
- مَسَّدَhe twisted (a rope) tightly
Carry this with you
- Wealth and status are no defence against Allah's decree.
- Opposing the truth openly, even from within one's own family, invites Allah's own rebuttal.
- Allah's justice matches punishment to the exact nature of a person's crime.
- Support for wrongdoing, even by a spouse, is named and held to account in its own right.
- The Qurʾān's prophecy about Abū Lahab's death as a disbeliever was fulfilled exactly, a sign of its truth.
- Small, habitual acts of malice — like carrying firewood to harm someone — are not overlooked by Allah.
- Kinship with a prophet or righteous person does not itself grant salvation.
- The earliest public daʿwah met immediate hostility, yet the Qurʾān answered it immediately too.
Where this surah connects
Cross-surah threads
Parts of the Qurʾān explain other parts. Each thread below opens the same subject as it is argued across every other surah you have studied, in revelation order.
Sources behind Sūrah Al-Masad
Every line of context, tafsīr and takeaway on this page traces back to one of these references. Ḥadīth numbers open on sunnah.com and āyah references open on quran.com, so you can check the claim rather than take it on trust. The Arabic text itself is fetched live from a verified public corpus.
Tafsīr10
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān on 111:2
- Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, introduction to Sūrat al-Masad
- Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān
- Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān on 111:5
- al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān on Sūrat al-Masad
- Ibn Kathīr
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on 111:1
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on 111:4
Seerah & history1
- Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah
Full exam — the whole surah, from memory
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Al-Masad — full exam
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Al-Masad · His wife: a carrier of firewood, a carrier of malice
What double meaning does 'ḥammālat al-ḥaṭab' carry?
Arabic (Uthmānī script) and the Ṣaḥīḥ International translation are fetched live from the Quran.com API (v4), sourced from the King Fahd Complex muṣḥaf — api.quran.com API docs · Translation: Ṣaḥīḥ International · Integrity & testing protocol