إِنّا أَرسَلنا عَلَيهِم ريحًا صَرصَرًا في يَومِ نَحسٍ مُستَمِرٍّ

Indeed We unleashed upon them an icy gale on an incessantly ill-fated day.

EXEGESIS

The word ʿalayhim (upon them) is used in the verse in contrast to ilayhim (towards them). Such a usage indicates that the gale was not one of mercy but rather one of wrath and punishment. This usage can be seen in other verses too, whereby Allah describes how He unleashed upon a certain group His punishment (see for example 7:133, 7:162, 34:16, and 51:41).

Ṣarṣaran (icy) comes from the root letters ṣ-r-r which has the meaning of displaying intensity.[1] In different contexts and different structures, this base meaning can have further connotations. For example, the verb ṣarṣar when used in the context of a sound means a sound that is highly pitched or continuously pulled, more than what is considered normal, or the verb aṣarra when used in the context of an action means an action that one was steadfast and persistent upon. Similarly, ṣarrat when describing wind means an extremely hot or cold wind. As for ṣarṣaran, whilst carrying the base meaning of displaying intensity, it also has the added connotation of repetition and continuity. Based on this, Muṣṭafawī defines it as a wind that is intense, incessant, and persistent.[2]

This intensity has been expressed in different ways by different exegetes. Some have said that it is an indication of extreme coldness of the winds.[3] Other exegetes opine that intensity here refers to the deafening sound of the wind, i.e. the wind was so strong that it was making a howling sound.[4] Based on this understanding, Arberry translates the verse as ‘We loosed against them a wind clamorous in a day of ill fortune continuous’.

The word yawm is usually understood to mean day. However, it is used in the Quran to mean a period of time, and does not always equate with a twenty-four-hour day. In the current verse as well, yawm does not mean a twenty-four-hour day. In light of 41:16 and 69:7, the punishment continued for eight days and seven nights.[5] Some have suggested that even if we assume that yawm means a twenty-four-hour day here, it would not contradict other verses, as this verse serves to indicate the first day in which the gale started, and mustamirr means that it continued for several days.[6]

Naḥs (ill-fated) is originally used for the extreme redness that can sometimes be observed on the horizon. Nuḥas refers to a smokeless and extremely hot fire. Later, the word naḥs came to be used to mean any kind of inauspiciousness.[7]

Mustamirr (incessant) is from istimrār, which means continuity. The exegetes have differed as to what exactly is being described as continuous in this verse. It could be an attribute of naḥs, i.e. a continuously inauspicious or ill-fated day, which means there was no hope of good or salvation on that day.[8] In other words, the inauspiciousness continued until everyone was destroyed.[9] It could, alternatively, be an attribute for the punishment, in that the punishment was sent upon them continuously until all of them were destroyed.[10] The latter meaning is in line with other verses that mention that the punishment continued for eight days and seven nights (69:7). Another understanding of continuous punishment is that the punishment did not just last for seven nights and eight days but will be continued in the hereafter (41:16).[11]

EXPOSITION

According to some reports, the incessant gale of destruction of ʿĀd started to blow on the last Wednesday of the month.[12] From there, some have understood that the last Wednesday of every month, or even every Wednesday in the month, is inauspicious.

The Quran is clear that not all days and nights are the same. Some nights have been described in the Quran as blessed (44:3), as some days are also blessed (41:9-10), whilst the days in which the punishment was sent down on the people of ʿĀd are described as inauspicious (this verse and 41:16). But what exactly does it mean for a specific period of time to be auspicious or inauspicious?

Obviously, time itself cannot be described as good or evil. Thus, the inauspiciousness of a day should mean that any event or action that is performed on that day will have negative outcomes, or will not result in anything good.[13] In other words, time per se is neutral, and good or evil are related to what happens in that time.

Some exegetes have suggested that it is not impossible for time to acquire such qualities, but they do not explain what they mean by that.[14] Time is only metaphorically described as inauspicious, whilst what is literally inauspicious is that which occurs within the time. Such metaphorical statements are common in all languages. For example, in the statement ‘the river is flowing’, it is not the river that is flowing but rather the water in the river is literally flowing, and flowing is only metaphorically attributed to the river. Similarly, it is the individual or collective actions, intentions, or human vice or virtue which happen in a period of time that makes that time period blessed or ill-fated.[15]

In a similar manner, some exegetes have suggested that it was the people of ʿĀd themselves who were really inauspicious due to being engulfed in vice and corruption.[16] The difference between this view and the previous view is that whilst both views state that inauspiciousness is only metaphorically attributed to the day, the former view states that inauspiciousness is attributed to the actions performed therein, whilst the latter view holds that inauspiciousness is attributed to the individuals who were punished on that day.

A day in which Allah is worshipped and good deeds are performed is a day of goodness, auspiciousness, and good fortune. Likewise, a day in which sins and evil deeds are carried out is a day of inauspiciousness and ill fortune. Based on this, auspicious and inauspicious can be considered relative, for it may be an auspicious day for someone due to their virtuous actions whilst being inauspicious for others due to their evil deeds.[17]

According to Tabatabai, what we can understand from this verse is that those eight days in which the punishment was continuously sent down were days that were inauspicious because of that punishment. However, we cannot further deduce that those days of the month were thereafter permanently inauspicious.[18]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. It has been attributed to Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Wednesday is a day of continuous inauspiciousness because it is the first and last from amongst the days that Allah says, Which He disposed against them for seven continuous nights and eight days [69:7].’[19]
2. There are other narrations that indicate that the last Wednesday of the month is the day the punishment befell the people of ʿĀd.[20]

Note: Many exegetes, both Sunni and Shia, have completely rejected the idea that some days are inherently inauspicious.[21] Some have even said that those narrations that indicate that specific days – such as the last Wednesday of every month – are inauspicious, are fabrications.[22] Furthermore, if the argument is that the last Wednesday is inauspicious because that is the day in which the punishment befell the people of ʿĀd, then one ought to believe that every day of the week is as such because the punishment continued for eight days as per the Quran (69:7).[23] According to Tabatabai, whilst there are many narrations that mention specific days as inauspicious, most of them are either weak in their chain of narrators or have incomplete chains. However, there are a minority of narrations that can be considered reliable. What could be said about those narrations is that perhaps they are attempting to attract the attention of the believers to those events. This is because those narrations usually tie the inauspiciousness of the day to a remarkable event like the tragedy of Karbala. On such a day believers ought to refrain from merrymaking, and by being aware of the events that transpired on that day their sense of religiosity becomes stronger. In contrast, if no attention was paid to the events of that day and people would consider it like any other day, this would gradually lead to a desensitisation about those sad events.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some have suggested that this wind had the attribute of being both extremely cold and extremely hot. This is similar to one of the fires of hell (see 41:13).[24]

It has been attributed to some exegetes that naḥs in this verse means being full of dust, i.e. the cold winds that engulfed them were so dusty that the people could not see each other.[25]

[1] Tahqiq, 6/226.
[2] Tahqiq, 6/227.
[3] Qummi, 2/342; Suyuti, 6/135; Mizan, 19/70.
[4] Munyah, 27/200; Jalalayn, 1/532.
[5] Mizan, 19/70.
[6] Muhit, 10/42; Ibn Ashur, 27/185.
[7] Amthal, 17/315.
[8] Mizan, 19/70.
[9] Amthal, 17/315.
[10] Daqaiq, 12/540.
[11] Mudarissi, 14/229; Alusi, 14/84.
[12] Alusi, 14/84.
[13] Mizan, 19/71.
[14] Amthal, 17/317.
[15] Mudarissi, 14/230.
[16] Munyah, 27/203.
[17] Ibn Ashur, 27/185; Alusi, 14/85.
[18] Mizan, 19/71.
[19] Ilal, 2/381
[20] Nur, 5/181.
[21] Ibn Ashur, 27/185.
[22] Ibn Ashur, 27/185.
[23] Alusi, 14/86.
[24] Furqan, 27/490.
[25] Amthal, 17/315.