111- Surat Almasad/Tafseer
5 Verses - Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Tabbat yada Abi Lahabin wa tabb (1).
May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.
Ma aghna anhu maluhu wa ma kasab (2).
His wealth will not avail him, or that which he earned.
Sa-yasla naran zata lahab (3).
He will burn in a fire of flame.
Wa-mra'atuhu hammalata al-hatab (4).
And his wife, the carrier of firewood.
Fi jidiha hablun min masad (5).
In her neck is a rope of fiber.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Almasad is a statement of the punishment of Abu Lahab and Um Jamil in the Hereafter, and it is one of the miracles of the Holy Quran, because although Allah Almighty, has stated the consequences of their deeds, but they did not even try to enter Islam in order to prove that the words of the Holy Quran is not true, and they both died on the state of disbelief.
Allah Almighty says in the first verse (1) "May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he", that is, Allah assures that Abu Lahab has perished and his deeds and efforts in the worldly life were in vain, and that his loss and destruction in the Hereafter are certain. Abu Lahab is one of prophet's uncles, his name is Abdul-Uzza Bin Abdul-Muttalib, and his nickname is Abu Utbah, but he was called Abu Lahab because of the brightness of his face, and he was one of the most aggressive enemies of Islam, and he used to harm the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and to say that He is a liar and an apostate. And as narrated by Ibn Abbas that: "The Prophet (PBUH) went out towards albat-ha' and ascended the mountain and shouted O Sabahah! So the Quraish people gathered around Him, He said Do you see, if I tell you that an enemy is going to attack you in the morning or in the evening, Will you believe Me?, they replied yes, He said then I am a plain warner to you of a coming severe punishment, Abu Lahab said Is it for this reason that You have gathered us?, May You be ruined! Then Allah revealed {May the hands of Abi Lahab be ruined} till the end of it" (Sahih Albukhari 4972).
Allah Almighty says in the next two verses (2,3) "His wealth will not avail him, or that which he earned, He will burn in a fire of flame", that is, Allah assures that neither the wealth of Abu Lahab nor his children will avail him from the punishment of Hellfire, as children is one of man's earnings, as Aisha narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Indeed, the most wholesome of what you consume is from your earnings, and indeed, your children are from your earnings" (Jami' Altirmidhi 1358). It was said that Abu Lahab said if that what my nephew says is true, then I will ransom myself from the punishment of the day of resurrection with my wealth and my children, so Allah revealed {His wealth will not avail him, or that which he earned}, and Allah assures that he will burn in a fire of blazing flames on the day of resurrection.
Allah says in the last two verses (4,5) "And his wife, the carrier of firewood, in her neck is a rope of fiber", that is, Allah assures that the wife of Abu Lahab too will burn in afire of blazing flames. She was known as Um Jamil, whose name was Arwah Bint Harb Bin Umayyah, and she was the sister of Abu Sufyan, and she was an supportive of Abu Lahab in his disbelief, denial and stubbornness, and Allah describes her as the carrier of firewood. There are many explanations of the phrase "The carrier of firewood", some scholars said that the carrier of firewood refers to tale-bearer, for Um Jamil used to carry information about the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and his companions in order to ignite enmity between them and Quraish, some said that it refers to Um Jamil when she used to collect firewood and throw it in the road that the Prophet (PBUH) used to pass through, while others have gone beyond her deeds when she was alive and said that she will be a carrier of firewood in the Hereafter, for just as she was a support to her husband in the worldly life, she will use that firewood to burn her husband by throwing it on him in Hellfire.
No matter which one of these explanations is true, Allah Almighty knows best, but the result remains that she will burn in Hellfire, and a rope of twisted palm fiber will be around her neck as mentioned in the last verse.