Wannan sūrah an saukar da ita ne a matsayin martani ga yakin adawa da Abū Lahab da matarsa suka yi. Allah ya ɗauki alhakin faɗin kalma ta ƙarshe a madadin ManzonSa ﷺ.
This sūrah was revealed as a counterattack against Abū Lahab’s and his wife’s hostile campaign. God took it upon Himself to say the final word on behalf of His Messenger.
"Hannun Abū Lahab ta lalace, shi ma ya lalace." (Ayah ta 1) Kalmar Larabci tabba, da aka fassara a nan da 'lalace', tana nufin kuma gazawa da yankewa. Ana amfani da kalmar sau biyu a ma'ana biyu daban-daban. Da farko an yi amfani da ita a matsayin addu'a, yayin da a karo na biyu kuma take nuna cewa addu'ar ta riga ta karbu. Don haka, a cikin aya guda gajera, an tabbatar da wani aiki wanda ke rufe labule a kan wani fage na yaki. Abin da ya biyo baya kawai bayani ne game da abin da ya faru, tare da cewa "dukiyarsa da abin da ya samu ba za su amfane shi ba." (Ayah ta 2) Ba zai samu mafita ba. An ci nasararsa, an kayar da shi, kuma an la'anta shi.
“Doomed are the hands of Abū Lahab; doomed is he.” (Verse 1) The Arabic term, tabba, rendered here as ‘doomed’ also signifies failure and cutting off. The term is used twice in two different senses. It is used first as a prayer, while in the second instance it implies that the prayer has been already answered. So, in one short verse, an action is realized which draws the curtains upon a battle scene. What later follows is merely a description of what took place with the remark that “his wealth and his gains shall avail him nothing.” (Verse 2) He can have no escape. He is defeated, vanquished and damned.
Wannan shi ne makomarsa a duniya, amma a lahira "zai sha wuta mai ci." (Aya ta 3) An siffanta wutar da kasancewar harshen wuta don a jaddada cewa tana ci sosai.
This was his fate in this world, but in the hereafter “he shall have to endure a flaming fire.” (Verse 3) The fire is described as having flames in order to emphasize that it is raging.
"Kuma matarsa, mai ɗauke da itacen wuta," za ta zauna a can tare da shi tana da "igiya ta tsintsiya a wuyanta," wadda kamar dai ana jan ta da ita zuwa wuta, ko kuma wadda ta kasance tana ɗaura bundiyoyin itace da ita, ya danganta da ko an ɗauki nassin a zahirinsa ko a ma'anarsa ta alama.
“And his wife, the carrier of firewood,” will reside there with him having “a rope of palm-fibre round her neck,” with which, as it were, she is being dragged into hell, or which she used for fastening wood bundles together, according to whether a literal or metaphorical interpretation of the text is adopted.
Harshen wannan sūrah yana cimma daidaituwa mai ban mamaki tsakanin abin da ake magana a kansa da yanayin da aka gina a kewayensa. Abū Lahab zai shiga wuta mai harshen wuta, "lahab", wanda a harshen Larabci yana nufin harshen wuta; matarsa kuwa wadda ke ɗaukar itace, abin man wuta, za ta fuskanci wannan wuta ɗin tare da igiyar fiber ɗin dabino a wuyanta. Jahannama, tare da harshen wutarta mai ci sosai, "lahab", ko harsunan wuta, za ta zama mazauni ga Abū Lahab. A lokaci guda kuma matarsa, wadda ke tara ƙaya da itatuwa masu kaifi, abubuwan da za su iya ƙara ruruwar wuta sosai, ta jefa su duka a hanyar Annabi ﷺ. Saboda haka, a lokacin da ya dace, za a ja ta zuwa cikin Jahannama da igiya ɗaure a wuyanta, an ɗaure ta kamar itacen wuta.
The language of this sūrah achieves remarkable harmony between the subject matter and the atmosphere built around it. Abū Lahab will be plunged into a fire with lahab, which is the Arabic for flames; and his wife who carries the wood, a fuel, will be met with the same fire with a palm-fibre rope around her neck. Hell, with its fiercely burning lahab, or flames, will be inhabited by Abū Lahab. At the same time his wife, who collects thorns and sharp woods, materials which can significantly increase the blaze of a fire, puts them all in the Prophet’s way. Hence, she will, in time, be dragged into hell with a rope tied round her neck, bundled like firewood.
Yadda kalmomi da hotunan da suke bayyanawa suka dace da juna sosai: hukuncin yana da irin yanayin aikin da aka yi: itace, igiyoyi, wuta da Lahab! Ta fuskar sauti, kalmomin an tsara su ta hanyar da ke ba da daidaito mai ban mamaki tsakanin sautunan ɗaurin itace zuwa ɗaure-ɗaure da jan wuya da igiyoyi. Idan ka karanta ayar farko da harshen Larabci, "Tabbat yadā abī Lahabin wa tabb," za ka ga cewa tana sauti kamar ja mai kaifi da ƙarfi, kama da na ɗaure-ɗauren itace ko na mutumin da ba ya so ana jan shi da wuya zuwa cikin wuta mai ci. Duk abin yana daidai da fushi da tsananin zafi da yanayin yaƙi da ke tare da jigon wannan sura. Ta haka, a cikin ayoyi biyar gajeru da ke cikin ɗaya daga cikin surorin Alƙur'ani mafi guntu, sautukan waƙa suna dacewa daidai da ainihin motsin yanayin da aka kwatanta.
How perfectly matched are the words and the pictures portrayed: the punishment is presented as being of the same nature as the deed: wood, ropes, fire and lahab! Phonetically, the words are arranged in a way which provides wonderful harmony between the sounds made by the tying of wood into bundles and pulling the neck by ropes. Read in Arabic the opening verse, “Tabbat yadā abī Lahabin wa tabb.” You will not fail to note that it sounds like a hard sharp tug, analogous to that of bundles of wood or an unwilling person being dragged by the neck into a wild fire; all is in phase with the fury and violent, bellicose tone that goes with the theme of the sūrah. Thus, in five short verses making up one of the shortest sūrahs in the Qur’ān, the vocal melodies click neatly with the actual movement of the scene portrayed.
Wannan salo mai ƙarfi da daraja ya sa Umm Jamīl ta yi iƙirarin cewa Annabi ﷺ yana yi mata da mijinta ba’a ne. Wannan mace mai girman kai da son kai ba ta iya jure a kira ta da wata magana mai ƙasƙantarwa irin ta ‘mai ɗaukar itacen wuta,’ wadda ‘za a ɗaura mata igiyar zare na dabino a wuyanta.’ Fushinta ya ƙara tsanani sosai lokacin da surar ta shahara a tsakanin ƙabilun Larabawa, waɗanda suke matuƙar godiya ga irin wannan kyakkyawan salon adabi!
Ibn Isĥāq ya ruwaito: “An faɗa mini cewa Umm Jamīl, bayan ta ji abin da Alƙur’ani ya ce game da ita da mijinta, ta zo wajen Annabi ﷺ wanda yake tare da Abū Bakr a Ka`bah. Tana ɗauke da tulin duwatsu a hannunta. Allah ya ɗauke mata ganin Annabi ﷺ, sai ta ga Abū Bakr kaɗai, sai ta ce masa, ‘Ina abokinka? Na ji cewa yana yi mini ba’a. Da na same shi, da zan jefa waɗannan duwatsun a fuskarsa. Ni ma ina da baiwa a waƙa.’ Sannan ta rera waƙa kafin ta tafi:
This extremely rich and powerful style led Umm Jamīl to claim that the Prophet was in fact satirizing her and her husband. This arrogant and vain woman could not get over being referred to by such a humiliating phrase as ‘the carrier of firewood,’ who ‘shall have a rope of palm fibre round her neck.’ Her rage grew wilder when the sūrah became popular among the Arab tribes who greatly appreciated such fine literary style! Ibn Isĥāq relates: “Umm Jamīl, I was told, having heard what the Qur’ān said about her and her husband, came to the Prophet who was with Abū Bakr at the Ka`bah. She was carrying a handful of stones. God took her sight away from the Prophet and she saw only Abū Bakr to whom she said, ‘Where is your comrade? I have heard that he has been satirizing me. Were I to find him, I would throw these stones right into his face. I, too, am gifted in poetry.’ Then she chanted before leaving:
Ba za mu yi biyayya ga wanda ya cancanci ƙyama ba! Haka kuma ba za mu karɓi abin da ya faɗa ba!
"Abū Bakr ya juya wajen Annabi ﷺ ya ce: 'Kana ganin ta gan ka?' Sai Annabi ﷺ ya amsa: 'A'a, Allah ne ya sa ba ta iya ganina ba."
The contemptible we obey not! Nor what he says shall we accept! “Abū Bakr turned around to the Prophet and said, ‘Do you think that she saw you?’ ‘No,’ replied the Prophet, ‘God made her unable to see me.
Al-Bazzār ya riwaito daga Ibn `Abbās cewa: "Lokacin da aka saukar da wannan sūrah, matar Abū Lahab ta nemi Annabi ﷺ. Yana tare da Abū Bakr sai ta bayyana."
Al-Bazzār relates on Ibn `Abbās’s authority that “when this sūrah was revealed Abū Lahab’s wife sought the Prophet. While he was with Abū Bakr she appeared.
Abū Bakr ya ba Annabi shawara: "Ba zai cutar da kai ba idan ka fita daga ganinta." "Kada ka damu," in ji Annabi cikin nutsuwa. "Ba zai ga ni ba." Ta zo wurin Abū Bakr ta ce: "Abokinka ya zage mu da waƙa!" "Na Ubangijin wannan Ka'aba, bai yi ba," Abū Bakr ya tabbatar mata. "Ba mawaƙi ba ne, kuma abin da yake faɗa ba waƙa ba ce," ya ƙara da cewa. Ta ce, "Na yarda da kai," sannan ta tafi. Sai Abū Bakr ya tambayi Annabi ﷺ ko ta gan shi, sai ya ce: "A'a, wani mala'ika ne yake kare ni duk lokacin da take nan." Haka fushinta da ɓacin ranta suke a kan abin da ta ɗauka waƙa ne, wanda Abū Bakr ya musanta da gaskiya.
Abū Bakr suggested to the Prophet: ‘She will not harm you if you move out of her sight.’ ‘Do not worry,’ said the Prophet in a soothing manner. ‘She will not see me.’ She came to Abū Bakr and said: ‘Your friend has lampooned us!’ ‘By the Lord of this Ka`bah, he has not,’ Abū Bakr assured her. ‘He is no poet and what he says is not poetry,’ he added. She said, ‘I believe you,’ and then left. Abū Bakr then enquired from the Prophet whether she had seen him and he said, ‘No, an angel was shielding me all the time she was here.’ So much was her fury and her indignation at what she thought was poetry and which Abū Bakr rightly refuted.
Don haka, hoton wulakanci na Abū Lahab da matarsa an rubuta shi a cikin wannan littafi madawwami, Alƙur'ani, domin nuna fushin Allah a kansu saboda ƙiyayyarsu ga Manzonsa da saƙonsa. Saboda haka, duk waɗanda suka zaɓi nuna irin wannan hali ga Musulunci za su fuskanci irin wannan kunya, wulakanci da takaici, a rayuwar nan da kuma a rayuwa ta gaba.
Thus, the humiliating picture of Abū Lahab and his wife has been recorded to last forever in this eternal book, the Qur’ān, to show God’s anger with them for their animosity towards His Messenger and message. All those who choose to take a similar attitude towards Islam, therefore, will meet with the same disgrace, humiliation and frustration, both in this life and in the life to come.