العاديات
Al Adiyat
Verses
11
Revelation
Makki
Period
Early Meccan
Surah No.
100 / 114
Al-Adiyat opens with powerful oaths by war horses – their panting breath, their hooves striking sparks, their dawn raids, the dust they raise, and their penetration through the enemy host – before pivoting to a stark indictment: the human being is ungrateful to his Lord. The surah argues that this ingratitude is proven by the human being's own testimony: his passionate love for wealth. It closes with the reminder that on the Day of Judgement, when graves are turned over and hearts' secrets revealed, Allah's full knowledge of every soul will be manifest.
أسباب النزول
Revealed in the early Meccan period. Scholars including Ali ibn Abi Talib held that the oaths refer to horses of jihad (warfare), while Ibn Abbas held they refer to horses of Hajj rushing between Muzdalifah and Mina. The Meccan context strongly favours the warfare interpretation as a metaphor for energy and sacrifice, contrasted with human ingratitude. The surah's vivid imagery was designed to arrest the attention of the Quraysh, who prized horses highly.
“Indeed man, to his Lord, is ungrateful. And indeed he is, to that, a witness. And indeed he is, in love of wealth, intense.”
The moral core of the surah: ingratitude (kufr in its primary sense of covering over blessing) is not merely a theological claim but is proven by the human being's own behaviour – his passionate pursuit of wealth over gratitude.