عَمَّ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ 1
Translations
About what are they asking one another?
Transliteration
Amma yatasaa'alun
Tafsir (Explanation)
This opening ayah begins Surah An-Naba with a rhetorical question: 'About what are they asking one another?' The scholars, including Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, explain that this refers to the Quraysh's disputes and questions regarding the Day of Judgment and the Resurrection, which the Prophet (peace be upon him) had been preaching to them. The surah then proceeds to provide detailed answers about the signs of the Hour and the certainty of the afterlife.
Revelation Context
This surah was revealed in Mecca during the period when the Prophet was emphasizing belief in the Day of Judgment to the pagan Quraysh, who mocked and questioned this concept. The surah addresses their doubts and confusion about the resurrection and divine justice, serving as a response to their skepticism and contentious debates about these matters.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'The Hour will not be established until...people engage in disputes about the unseen matters.' (Thematic connection - related to general hadith traditions about people's questioning of the Hereafter). Also relevant: 'The best of you are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it' (Sahih Bukhari) - as understanding this surah requires reflection on its answers.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us that curiosity and questioning about matters of faith should lead us to seek knowledge from divine revelation rather than engage in fruitless disputation. It reminds us that the most important question we should be preoccupied with is preparing for the inevitable meeting with our Lord and the reality of the Hereafter.
Related Ayahs
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوْبَةً نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمْ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمْ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ وَيُدْخِلَكُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ يَوْمَ لَا يُخْزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِىَّ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ ۖ نُورُهُمْ يَسْعَىٰ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَـٰنِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَتْمِمْ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَآ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
O you who have believed, repent to Allāh with sincere repentance. Perhaps your Lord will remove from you your misdeeds and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow [on] the Day when Allāh will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will proceed before them and on their right; they will say, "Our Lord, perfect for us our light and forgive us. Indeed, You are over all things competent."
ثُمَّ قِيلَ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ ذُوقُوا۟ عَذَابَ ٱلْخُلْدِ هَلْ تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ
Then it will be said to those who had wronged, "Taste the punishment of eternity; are you being recompensed except for what you used to earn?"
لِّلْكَـٰفِرِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُۥ دَافِعٌ
To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, that Day, to the deniers.