Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Masad Verse 1

Let the two hands of Abû Lahab (the Prophet´s uncle, one of his most inveterate opponents and other fiery tempered enemies of Islam) perish, and let he himself (also) perish!

English Literal

Father of the flame of a smokeless fire`s (known as Prophet Mohammad`s uncle) hand was destroyed/lost, and destroyed/lost.

Faridul Haque

May both the hands of Abu Lahab be destroyed – and they are destroyed!

Hamid S. Aziz

Perish shall the hands of The Father of Flame, and he shall perish!

Hilali & Khan

Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (an uncle of the Prophet), and perish he!

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Abu Lahab’s hands will perish and he will perish.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Perdition overtake both hands of Abu Lahab, and he will perish.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

The power of Abu Lahab will perish, and he will perish.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Perish the hands of AbiLahab, and perish he!

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he!

Wahiduddin Khan

May the hands of Abu Lahab perish, may he be ruined.

Talal Itani

Condemned are the hands of Abee Lahab, and he is condemned.

Perish, ruined be, the hands of Ab Lahab, in other words, all of him -- the use of `hands' here to denote [all of] him is figurative, and is because most actions are performed by them; the statement is an invocation -- and perish he!, may he be ruined! (this [tabba] is a predicate, as where one says, ahlakahu'Llhu wa-qad halak, `God destroyed him and he indeed is destroyed'. When the Prophet threatened him with the chastisement, he said, `If what my brother's son says is true, then I shall ransom [myself] from it with my wealth and sons!'; so the following was revealed;

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Reason for the Revelation of this Surah and the Arrogance of Abu Lahab toward the Messenger of Allah

Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn Abbas that;

The Prophet went out to the valley of Al-Batha and he ascended the mountain. Then he cried out,
يَا صَبَاحَاه
O people, come at once! So the Quraysh gathered around him. Then he said,

أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ حَدَّثْتُكُمْ أَنَّ الْعَدُوَّ مُصَبِّحُكُمْ أَوْ مُمَسِّيكُمْ أَكُنْتُمْ تُصَدِّقُونِّي
؟

If I told you all that the enemy was going to attack you in the morning, or in the evening, would you all believe me?

They replied, "Yes."

Then he said,

فَإِنِّي نَذِيرٌ لَكُمْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيد

Verily, I am a warner (sent) to you all before the coming of a severe torment.

Then Abu Lahab said,

"Have you gathered us for this! May you perish!"

Thus, Allah revealed,

تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ

Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he! to the end of the Surah.

In another narration it states that he stood up dusting of his hands and said,

"Perish you for the rest of this day! Have you gathered us for this"

Then Allah revealed,
تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِى لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ

The first part is a supplication against him and the second is information about him.

This man Abu Lahab was one of the uncles of the Messenger of Allah. His name was Abdul-Uzza bin Abdul-Muttalib. His surname was Abu Utaybah and he was only called Abu Lahab because of the brightness of his face. He used to often cause harm to the Messenger of Allah. He hated and scorned him and his religion.

Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Az-Zinad that;

a man called Rabi`ah bin Abbad from the tribe of Bani Ad-Dil, who was a man of pre-Islamic ignorance who accepted Islam, said to him, "I saw the Prophet in the time of pre-Islamic ignorance in the market of Dhul-Majaz and he was saying,

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قُولُوا لَاا إِلهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ تُفْلِحُوا

O people! Say there is no god worthy of worship except Allah and you will be successful.

The people were gathered around him and behind him there was a man with a bright face, squint (or cross) eyes and two braids in his hair. He was saying,

"Verily, he is an apostate (from our religion) and a liar!"

This man was following him (the Prophet) around wherever he went. So, I asked who was he and they (the people) said,

"This is his uncle, Abu Lahab."

Ahmad also recorded this narration from Surayj, who reported it from Ibn Abu Az-Zinad, who reported it from his father (Abu Zinad) who mentioned this same narration.

However in this report, Abu Zinad said,

"I said to Rabi`ah, `Were you a child at that time!'

He replied,

`No. By Allah, that day I was most intelligent, and I was the strongest blower of the flute (for music)."'

Ahmad was alone in recording this Hadith.

Concerning Allah's statement,

مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَب

Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Masad Verse 1

Al-Masad [111]: 1 ~ English Qur'an Word By Word and Multi Tafseer

Transliteration:

English / Sahih Translation:

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Ruwwad Translation Center

A. J. Arberry

Abdul Haleem

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Abul Ala Maududi

Ahmed Ali

Ahmed Raza Khan

Ali Quli Qarai

Ali Ünal

Amatul Rahman Omar