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Surah 100 · Makkah · 11 āyāt

Phase 02 · Going public — and the persecution(c. 10–8 BH) — view in timeline

Al-ʿĀdiyātThe Charging Steeds

العاديات

A short, rhythmic Makkan surah that opens with a fivefold oath drawn from the image of war-horses charging into a raid at dawn, then turns that image into an indictment: man is ungrained in ingratitude toward his Lord, and he himself bears witness to it through his own love of wealth. It closes with the Day when graves are overturned and hearts' secrets are collected — the only real audit of what the oath began with.

Why it was revealed

No sound, specific occasion of revelation (asbāb al-nuzūl) is authentically established for this surah. Some exegetes relate that it was revealed about a raiding expedition the Prophet ﷺ sent out under a companion, said in some accounts to be led by al-Mundhir ibn ʿAmr, but the chains for this report are weak and it is not attested in the sound collections. It is safer and more accurate to say the surah's occasion is not firmly known, and that its message stands as a general reminder rather than a report of a single episode.

No hadith in Bukhārī or Muslim narrates an occasion tied to this surah's revelation. Al-Wāḥidī, in Asbāb al-Nuzūl, records the raid account on the authority of a chain reaching back to Ibn ʿAbbās, but scholars such as Ibn Kathīr note the weakness of these narrations and prefer to read the surah on its plain wording alone, without hanging it on an unverified event.

Al-Wāḥidī, Asbāb al-Nuzūl (weak chain, noted as such); Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm on Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt

In the Prophet's ﷺ life

Revelationc. 12–11 BH (early Makkan phase, prior to open persecution intensifying) · Age c. 41–42 · Makkah

Going public: revelation moves from private to open proclamation

By this stage of the Makkan period the small community of believers had begun to be known, and the Prophet ﷺ had started calling more openly, drawing mockery and hostility from Quraysh. Surahs like al-ʿĀdiyāt, with their forceful oaths and warnings, belong to this phase of building resolve under pressure rather than to the earliest, most private days of revelation.

Recalled in āyah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

وَٱلْعَٰدِيَٰتِ ضَبْحًا

By the racing, panting [steeds],

فَٱلْمُورِيَٰتِ قَدْحًا

and the producers of sparks [when] striking [with their hooves],

فَٱلْمُغِيرَٰتِ صُبْحًا

and the chargers at dawn,

فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِۦ نَقْعًا

raising thereby a cloud of dust,

فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِۦ جَمْعًا

arriving thereby in the midst of a gathered company —

Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (general chronology of early Makkan daʿwah); traditional revelation-order lists (e.g. as compiled by al-Suyūṭī, al-Itqān)

THEME 01Āyāt 1–5

The oath: charging steeds and the sparks of dawn

Five clauses build one scene: horses charging and panting, striking sparks with their hooves, raiding at first light, and raising a cloud of dust as they plunge into the midst of a gathered enemy. The oath's vividness is itself an argument — Allah swears by a scene of total exertion and courage to set up a contrast with man's laziness in gratitude.

1

وَٱلْعَٰدِيَٰتِ ضَبْحًا

By the racing, panting [steeds],

2

فَٱلْمُورِيَٰتِ قَدْحًا

and the producers of sparks [when] striking [with their hooves],

3

فَٱلْمُغِيرَٰتِ صُبْحًا

and the chargers at dawn,

4

فَأَثَرْنَ بِهِۦ نَقْعًا

raising thereby a cloud of dust,

5

فَوَسَطْنَ بِهِۦ جَمْعًا

arriving thereby in the midst of a gathered company —

From the tafsīr

The majority of exegetes, including Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn Masʿūd in some reports, understood al-ʿādiyāt as war-horses charging in battle or raid; the panting (ḍabḥ), the striking of sparks from rocks (qadḥ), the dawn raid (ighārah), the rising dust (nāqʿ), and the plunging into the enemy's midst (wasaṭna bihi jamʿan) are read as five successive stages of one charge.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

A minority opinion, also attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, took al-ʿādiyāt to mean the camels of the pilgrims racing between ʿArafah and Muzdalifah; al-Qurṭubī notes both views are transmitted but the horse-raid reading is the more widely held.

— Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān

Key takeaways

  • An oath's imagery is chosen to match its lesson — total physical exertion here sets up the charge of spiritual laziness that follows.
  • Scholars have differed over the precise referent of al-ʿādiyāt, and honest tafsir preserves that difference rather than flattening it.
  • Each of the five clauses adds a stage of intensity, building toward the moment of impact in āyah 5.

Reflect

What in your own life deserves the same total exertion these horses give to their charge?

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Question 1 of 2

What alternative reading of al-ʿādiyāt is reported from ʿAlī?

Question 2 of 2

According to most commentators, what does al-ʿādiyāt describe?

THEME 02Āyāt 6–8

The charge: man's ingrained ingratitude

After the oath comes the verdict it supports: man (al-insān) is truly ungrateful to his Lord — a trait deeply seated (kanūd) — and he himself bears witness to this over his own conduct, because his love of wealth (al-khayr, here meaning worldly good) is visible and intense.

6

إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ لِرَبِّهِۦ لَكَنُودٌ

Indeed mankind, to his Lord, is ungrateful.

7

وَإِنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ

And indeed, he is, to that, a witness.

8

وَإِنَّهُۥ لِحُبِّ ٱلْخَيْرِ لَشَدِيدٌ

And indeed he is, in love of wealth, intense.

From the tafsīr

Kanūd is explained by early exegetes, including reports from Ibn ʿAbbās, as one who counts the trials that befall him but forgets the blessings — denying favours rather than acknowledging them.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

'And indeed, he is a witness to that' — man's own outward conduct, his eagerness for wealth and reluctance in gratitude, testifies against him without need for another witness.

— Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān

Key takeaways

  • Kanūd names a specific pattern: remembering hardship, forgetting favour — worth checking against one's own self-talk.
  • The Qurʾān often makes a person's own visible behaviour the evidence against them, not an external accusation.
  • Love of al-khayr (wealth, worldly good) is not condemned outright — the surah condemns the imbalance it creates against gratitude.

Reflect

When you tally your day, do you count the blessings first or the complaints first?

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Question 1 of 2

What does āyah 7 mean by saying man 'is a witness to that'?

Question 2 of 2

According to the mufassirūn, what trait is kanūd?

THEME 03Āyāt 9–11

The reckoning: graves overturned, hearts laid bare

The surah ends by turning attention from man's present forgetfulness to a scene he cannot dismiss: the Day when what is in the graves is scattered out and what is in the chests is drawn out and made known — and on that Day, their Lord is fully aware of them.

9

أَفَلَا يَعْلَمُ إِذَا بُعْثِرَ مَا فِى ٱلْقُبُورِ

Does he not know that when what is in the graves is scattered forth,

10

وَحُصِّلَ مَا فِى ٱلصُّدُورِ

and what is in the breasts is obtained and drawn out,

11

إِنَّ رَبَّهُم بِهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّخَبِيرٌۢ

indeed, their Lord, with them, that Day, is fully Aware.

From the tafsīr

'Buʿthira mā fī al-qubūr' — the dead are raised and scattered forth from their graves; 'ḥuṣṣila mā fī al-ṣudūr' — what was hidden and concealed in the hearts is exposed and sorted out on that Day.

— Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm

The closing 'inna rabbahum bihim yawmaʾidhin la-khabīr' is not new information — Allah is always fully aware — but a statement of what becomes manifest to creation on that Day, matching the reckoning to the deeds forgotten in life.

— Al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān

Key takeaways

  • The Day is described as exposure, not just judgement — hidden intentions become visible.
  • The reckoning is framed as an answer to the ingratitude of āyāt 6–8: forgetfulness now meets full disclosure then.
  • Allah's knowledge of hearts does not begin on that Day — only its manifestation to others does.

Reflect

If what is in your chest were drawn out and shown today, what would it reveal?

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What point does al-Ṭabarī make about 'inna rabbahum bihim yawmaʾidhin la-khabīr'?

Question 2 of 2

How is āyah 9 explained by the exegetes?

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VOCABULARY

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.

ع د و

āyāt 1

to run, race, charge; also to transgress or be hostile

  • عَادِيَةone charging (fem.)
  • عَدُوّenemy
  • عُدْوَانaggression, transgression

ك ن د

āyāt 6

to be ungrateful, to deny favours received

  • كَنُودone deeply ungrateful
  • كَنَدَhe denied a blessing

ش ه د

āyāt 7

to witness, to be present and testify

  • شَهِيدwitness
  • شَهَادَةtestimony
  • مَشْهَدa place/scene of witnessing

ح ب ب

āyāt 8

to love, to hold dear

  • حُبّlove
  • مَحْبُوبbeloved
  • أَحَبَّhe loved

خ ي ر

āyāt 8

good, that which is beneficial — here specifically wealth

  • خَيْرgood, wealth
  • خَيِّرone who does good
  • خِيَارchoice, the best of something

ب ع ث ر

āyāt 9

to scatter, overturn, turn out the contents of

  • بُعْثِرَit was scattered/overturned
  • بَعْثَرَةthe act of scattering out

ح ص ل

āyāt 10

to obtain, extract, bring to a clear result

  • حُصِّلَit was drawn out / made evident
  • حَاصِلresult, outcome
  • تَحْصِيلattainment, extraction

خ ب ر

āyāt 11

to know by experience, to be well-informed of the inner reality of a thing

  • خَبِيرfully Aware, All-Informed
  • خَبَرnews, report
  • خِبْرَةexperience, expertise

Carry this with you

  • An oath's imagery is never decorative — it is chosen to prove the point that follows.
  • Gratitude is not automatic; the Qurʾān names kanūd as a real, common human tendency worth guarding against.
  • A person's own visible priorities can testify against them more plainly than any outside accusation.
  • Love of wealth is not the sin — the imbalance it creates against gratitude and remembrance is.
  • Nothing buried or hidden — in graves or in hearts — stays hidden from the reckoning.
  • Where an occasion of revelation is not authentically established, sound scholarship says so plainly rather than filling the gap with a weak report.
  • Allah's full awareness of hearts is constant; the Day of Judgement only makes it manifest to creation.
FINAL ASSESSMENT

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Al-ʿĀdiyāt — full exam

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Al-ʿĀdiyāt · The charge: man's ingrained ingratitude

What does kanūd describe about man's character?

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