سُورَةُ المَسَدِ
Surah 111 - Al-Masad
The Palm Fibre
- 5 verses
- Juz 30
- Page 603 of the Mushaf
Al-Masad has five verses. The first names a man, Abu Lahab, and announces his ruin and the ruin of his two hands. The second sets aside what might have held him up: his goods and his gains are of no help to him. The third states the fire. The last two move to his wife, marked out by a load of wood, then to what is around her neck: a rope of fibre. In Arabic, the word that ends the name given in the first verse comes back in the third to describe the fire. The surah says nothing else of either.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ تَبَّتْ يَدَآ أَبِى لَهَبٍۢ وَتَبَّ
May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.
مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ
His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained.
سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًۭا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍۢ
He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame
وَٱمْرَأَتُهُۥ حَمَّالَةَ ٱلْحَطَبِ
And his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood.
فِى جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌۭ مِّن مَّسَدٍۭ
Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber.
What is surah Al-Masad about?
About a man the text names, and about his wife. Five verses state his ruin, the uselessness of what he owns, the fire that awaits him, then the wood his wife carries and the rope at her neck. Nothing else is told: not what they did, nor when.
How is surah Al-Masad built?
In two movements and five short verses. The first three deal with the man: the announcement, his goods without effect, the fire. The last two deal with his wife: what she carries, what is at her neck. Each verse adds an item, none explains the one before.
What does surah Al-Masad say about Abu Lahab?
Four things, and nothing more: his hands and he himself are given over to ruin; what he owns and what he gained do not serve him; a fire awaits him; his wife is joined to what is announced to him. The text gives no account, no motive, no date.
How does surah Al-Masad end?
With a concrete detail, in the fifth verse: a rope of fibre at the neck of the woman mentioned just before. The surah stops there, with no conclusion and no comment, and without returning to the man of the opening.
Why is surah Al-Masad called that?
“Al-Masad” means “the Palm Fibre”. The name is taken from the very last word of the surah (111:5), which describes a rope of fibre. The title comes from the end of the text, not from its opening or its subject.
How many verses does surah Al-Masad have?
Surah Al-Masad has 5 verses. It stands at number 111 in the order of the Mushaf, which holds 114.
The Arabic text is that of the Mushaf. The summary, the outline and the answers on this page describe the text and how it is built: they are not religious commentary.