Surah Al Haqqah Tafseer

سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ

Which Allah imposed on them,

meaning, He made it overpower them.

سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا

for seven nights and eight days Husum,

Husum means, complete, successive and unfortunately evil.

Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Ath-Thawri and others all said,

"Husum means in succession."

It has been reported that Ikrimah and Ar-Rabi` bin Khuthaym both said,

"It means it was unfortunately evil upon them."

This is similar to Allah's statement,

فِى أَيَّامٍ نَّحِسَاتٍ

in days of calamity, (41:16)

It has been said that it is that which people now call A`jaz (apparently used to mean evil devastation).

It seems as though the people took this term from Allah's statement,

فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَى

كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ

so that you could see the people lying toppled, as if they were A`jaz (trunks) of date palms, Khawiyah!

Ibn `Abbas said about,

خَاوِيَةٍ

(Khawiyah),

"It means ruined."

Others besides him said,

"It means dilapidated."

This means that the wind would cause one of them (palm tree) to hit the ground, and it will fall down dead on his head. Then his head would shatter and it would remain a lifeless corpse as if it were without branches, motionless.

It has been confirmed in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah said,

نُصِرْتُ بِالصَّبَا وَأُهْلِكَتْ عَادٌ بِالدَّبُور

I was helped by an easterly wind and the people of `Ad were destroyed by a westerly wind.

فَهَلْ تَرَى لَهُم مِّن بَاقِيَةٍ