وَإِذَا العِشارُ عُطِّلَت

When the pregnant camels are neglected.

EXEGESIS

The word ʿishār is the plural of ʿashrā.^{‎[1]Amthal, 15/447; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.} Exegetes of the Quran have offered two meanings for this word. The most unanimous meaning offered by the exegetes for this word is that it refers to female camels that have finished ten months of their pregnancy^{‎[2]Tibyan, 10/282; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.} and are on the verge of giving birth, thus needing constant attention.^{‎[3]Amthal, 15/447; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.} A camel’s period of pregnancy is twelve months, i.e. an entire year.^{‎[4]Ibn Ashur, 30/126; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.} By this time its udders are also full of milk. Such a camel was the most beloved and valuable asset for the Arabs at the time of the revelation of this verse.^{‎[5]Amthal, 15/447.} Ṭūsī writes that ʿashrā is derived from ʿasharatun, meaning ten.^{‎[6]Tibyan, 10/282.} The most common names for a camel in the Arabic language are baʿīr (mentioned in 12:65 and 12:72), jamal (mentioned in 7:40), ibil (mentioned in 6:144 and 88:17), and nāqah (for a female camel, mentioned in 7:73, 11:64, 17:59, 26:155, 54:27-29, and 91:13). However, camels have also been referred to in the Quran with special names that aim to convey a specific attribute possessed by the camel in that verse. Thus, riding camels have been referred to as rikāb (mentioned in 59:6), and camels meant for sacrifice are referred to as budn (mentioned in 22:36), while camels demented with thirst are called hīm (mentioned in 56:55), and in 5:103 four different types of camels are mentioned in reference to specific pagan practices. Thus it seems that the Arabs had the tendency to give specific names to camels with specific attributes and/or functions, creating thereby a rich vocabulary for camels, and it is in light of this fact that the term ʿishār, meaning heavily pregnant and expectant female camels, is better appreciated here. The rhetorical significance of the use of the word ʿishār to mean female camels at a specific stage of their pregnancy is further augmented when one realises that the Arabs also had specific names for camels that were newly pregnant and those that had already delivered their young. As for the former, the word makhāḍ^{‎[7]An Arabic-English Lexicon, 7/2694. This word literally denotes the pains of labour experienced during childbirth (see 19:23), but it is also applied to pregnant she-camels.} was used, and for the latter, ʿāʾidh (pl. ʿūdh and ʿawdhān) was used.^{‎[8]An Arabic-English Lexicon, 5/2052, 2192-2193.}

The second meaning suggested for the word ʿishār is that it may mean clouds.^{‎[9]Tabrisi, 10/674.}

The passive perfect tense verb ʿuṭṭilat means to be rendered dysfunctional, to be ignored and neglected,^{‎[10]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 628.} and to be abandoned and deserted.^{‎[11]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 628.} Its verbal noun taʿṭīl means the rendering of something as vacant, void, or unoccupied.^{‎[12]An Arabic-English Lexicon, 5/2082.}

EXPOSITION

The fourth phenomenon which this surah describes is a pitiful one. Just prior to the Day of Judgement, pregnant she-camels which have finished ten months of gestation and considered to be one of the priceless and beloved possessions of the Arabs, will be left abandoned, with no shepherd to tend to them^{‎[13]Irshād al-Adhhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1/591.} as mankind will be desperately busy with itself,^{‎[14]Muntakhab min Tafsīr al-Tibyān, 2/364.} due to the fear and dread of that day.^{‎[15]Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, p. 608.}

It has also been suggested that the camels will be left untended with none to milk them^{‎[16]Al-Aṣfā fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 2/1410.} as creation will be dead.^{‎[17]Burhan, 5/591.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Al-Farrāʾ explains this verse to mean pregnant camels whose owners have left them idle (ʿaṭṭala), or neglected them because of their own pre-occupations, while Jubbāʾī says that it means clouds which are ignored or made inoperative of what they carry of moisture, which God causes to descend on His servants on earth.^{‎[18]Tibyan, 10/282; Tabrisi, 10/674.} This second meaning suggested for the word ʿishār, that it means clouds^{‎[19]Tabrisi, 10/674; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.} which are ʿuṭṭilat (devoid of moisture and therefore not resulting in any rain),^{‎[20]Tabrisi, 10/674.} may make sense when understood in the context of the preceding verse where, due to the destruction of the mountains, there will be so much choking dust floating around that it will result in clouds, and such clouds obviously do not beget rain. It is also suggested that it refers to clouds composed of various kinds of gases.

Ṭurayḥī, in his lexicon Majmaʿ al-Baḥrayn, also suggests the above two meanings, saying that the word ʿishār does mean pregnant camels, however the word is then designated to mean anything which carries something (valuable).^{‎[21]Cited in Amthal, 15/447.} Rāzī writes that this second meaning suggested for the word ʿishār, though used as a metaphor, is nevertheless verified in usage among Arabs who compare a cloud to a thing which carries something, as observed in 51:2: By the [rain] bearing [clouds] laden [with water].^{‎[22]Razi, 31/65.} Such a designation for clouds is given further credence by a tradition that Qummī records from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), who reported that once, Ibn al-Kawwāʾ asked Imam Ali (a) the meaning of the first four verses of Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt (51:1-4): By the scattering [winds] that scatter [the clouds], by the [rain]^{‎[23]The words in brackets in the four verses cited in this tradition cannot be found in the original Arabic version of the said verses, instead they are the learned translators’ interpretative choice of words in translation. Thus, a person reading these verses in their original Arabic would literally be reading as follows: By the scattering that scatter, by the bearing, laden, by that which move gently, etc. Such a reading would obviously make the verses ambiguous in their meaning and thus the question posed by the questioner to the Imam for clarification.} bearing [clouds] laden [with water], by [the ships] that move gently [on the sea], by [the angels] that dispense [livelihood] by [His] command. The Imam replied that the first verse refers to the winds, the second to the clouds, the third to the ships, and the fourth to the angels.^{‎[24]Qummi, 2/327.}

Lastly, it has also been suggested that the word ʿishār may mean houses,^{‎[25]Nahj al-Bayān ʿan Kashf Maʿānī al-Qurʾān, 5/322.} or agricultural lands that have been abandoned or left idle, empty of both men and crops.^{‎[26]Amthal, 15/447.}

[1] Amthal, 15/447; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.
[2] Tibyan, 10/282; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.
[3] Amthal, 15/447; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.
[4] Ibn Ashur, 30/126; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.
[5] Amthal, 15/447.
[6] Tibyan, 10/282.
[7] An Arabic-English Lexicon, 7/2694. This word literally denotes the pains of labour experienced during childbirth (see 19:23), but it is also applied to pregnant she-camels.
[8] An Arabic-English Lexicon, 5/2052, 2192-2193.
[9] Tabrisi, 10/674.
[10] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 628.
[11] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 628.
[12] An Arabic-English Lexicon, 5/2082.
[13] Irshād al-Adhhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 1/591.
[14] Muntakhab min Tafsīr al-Tibyān, 2/364.
[15] Tabyīn al-Qurʾān, p. 608.
[16] Al-Aṣfā fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, 2/1410.
[17] Burhan, 5/591.
[18] Tibyan, 10/282; Tabrisi, 10/674.
[19] Tabrisi, 10/674; Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 622.
[20] Tabrisi, 10/674.
[21] Cited in Amthal, 15/447.
[22] Razi, 31/65.
[23] The words in brackets in the four verses cited in this tradition cannot be found in the original Arabic version of the said verses, instead they are the learned translators’ interpretative choice of words in translation. Thus, a person reading these verses in their original Arabic would literally be reading as follows: By the scattering that scatter, by the bearing, laden, by that which move gently, etc. Such a reading would obviously make the verses ambiguous in their meaning and thus the question posed by the questioner to the Imam for clarification. 
[24] Qummi, 2/327.
[25] Nahj al-Bayān ʿan Kashf Maʿānī al-Qurʾān, 5/322.
[26] Amthal, 15/447.