Surah Al-Masad (Al-Lahab): Meaning, Translation and Transliteration

Surah Al-Masad is the only surah that condemns a named individual, and he was the Prophet's ﷺ own uncle. Abu Lahab spent his life opposing his nephew, and his wife joined him. The surah tells them both where that leads.

This article gives the full surah in Arabic, a transliteration and the English translation, tells the story behind it, and explains it verse by verse.

The full surah

تَبَّتۡ يَدَآ أَبِي لَهَبٖ وَتَبَّ مَآ أَغۡنَىٰ عَنۡهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ سَيَصۡلَىٰ نَارٗا ذَاتَ لَهَبٖ وَٱمۡرَأَتُهُۥ حَمَّالَةَ ٱلۡحَطَبِ فِي جِيدِهَا حَبۡلٞ مِّن مَّسَدِۭ

Transliteration

1. Tabbat yadā Abī Lahabiw-wa tabb
2. Mā aghnā ʿanhu māluhū wa mā kasab
3. Sayaṣlā nāran dhāta lahab
4. Wamraʾatuhū ḥammālatal-ḥaṭab
5. Fī jīdihā ḥablum-mim-masad

English translation (Saheeh International)

May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he. His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained. He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame and his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood. Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber. (111:1-5)

If you learned to read the Quran in the IndoPak script, here is the same surah as it appears in a South Asian mushaf:

تَبَّتۡ يَدَاۤ اَبِىۡ لَهَبٍ وَّتَبَّؕ مَاۤ اَغۡنٰى عَنۡهُ مَالُهٗ وَمَا كَسَبَؕ سَيَصۡلٰى نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ ۖۚ وَّامۡرَاَ تُهٗ ؕ حَمَّالَةَ الۡحَطَبِۚ فِىۡ جِيۡدِهَا حَبۡلٌ مِّنۡ مَّسَدٍ

You can read and listen to Surah Al-Masad with its translation, or read it with the Urdu translation.

About the surah

Al-Masad is the 111th surah of the Quran, with 5 verses, in the 30th juz. It is Meccan. It has three common names: Al-Masad ("palm fibre", from the last verse), Al-Lahab ("the flame") and Tabbat (its first word).

Who was Abu Lahab? His name was ʿAbd al-ʿUzza ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib, a brother of the Prophet's ﷺ father. "Abu Lahab", "father of flame", was a nickname for his bright, reddish face. He lived next door to the Prophet ﷺ and was among the most hostile to him, following him around at markets and festivals to tell people not to listen to him. His wife, Umm Jamil Arwa bint Harb, was the sister of Abu Sufyan.

Why it was revealed. When Allah revealed "And warn your closest kindred" (26:214), the Prophet ﷺ climbed the hill of Safa and called out to the clans of Quraysh. When they gathered, he said: "If I told you that horsemen were coming from behind this hill to attack you, would you believe me?" They said: "We have never known you to lie." He said: "Then I am a warner to you, before a severe punishment." Abu Lahab said: "May you perish! Is this what you gathered us for?" Then this surah was revealed (Sahih al-Bukhari 4971; Sahih Muslim 208).

Verses 1-2: Ruined are the hands of Abu Lahab

تَبَّتۡ يَدَآ أَبِي لَهَبٖ وَتَبَّ مَآ أَغۡنَىٰ عَنۡهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ

May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he. His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained. (111:1-2)

Abu Lahab had said tabban laka, "may you perish". The Quran answers with his own word: tabbat, perished are his hands. The first half is like a curse; the second, wa tabb, "and he has perished", states that it is done.

"His hands" stand for his efforts: everything he did against the Prophet ﷺ came to nothing. His wealth didn't save him, nor "what he earned", which some commentators said includes his children.

Verse 3: A fire of flame

سَيَصۡلَىٰ نَارٗا ذَاتَ لَهَبٖ

He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame (111:3)

The man called "father of flame" will enter a fire dhāta lahab, "of flame". His nickname becomes his fate.

A prophecy. This verse said, years in advance, that Abu Lahab would die a disbeliever. He lived for about ten more years after it was revealed. To prove the Quran wrong, all he had to do was say he had become Muslim, even falsely. He never did. He died shortly after the Battle of Badr, of a painful disease, still in disbelief.

Verses 4-5: His wife, the carrier of firewood

وَٱمۡرَأَتُهُۥ حَمَّالَةَ ٱلۡحَطَبِ فِي جِيدِهَا حَبۡلٞ مِّن مَّسَدِۭ

And his wife [as well] - the carrier of firewood. Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber. (111:4-5)

Umm Jamil is described as ḥammālat al-ḥaṭab, "the carrier of firewood". The commentators gave two explanations:

• Literally, she used to gather thorny branches and scatter them on the path the Prophet ﷺ walked at night.
• Figuratively, in Arabic "carrying firewood" means spreading gossip and slander, which feed hostility the way wood feeds a fire. She went around stirring up people against him.

Masad is rough rope twisted from palm fibre. She was a wealthy, high-born woman; the commentators said she had a precious necklace, and swore she would spend it in opposing Muhammad ﷺ. In the Hereafter, around her neck will be a rope of fibre instead.

When she heard the surah, the books of sīrah report, she came looking for the Prophet ﷺ with a stone in her hand while he sat with Abu Bakr near the Kaʿbah. She asked Abu Bakr where his companion was, without seeing the Prophet ﷺ sitting right there.

Word by word

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
تَبَّتۡ	tabbat	Perish
يَدَآ	yadā	(the) hands
أَبِي	abī	(of) Abu
لَهَبٖ	lahabin	Lahab
وَتَبَّ	watabba	and perish he
مَآ	mā	Not
أَغۡنَىٰ	aghnā	(will) avail
عَنۡهُ	ʿanhu	him
مَالُهُۥ	māluhu	his wealth
وَمَا	wamā	and what
كَسَبَ	kasaba	he earned
سَيَصۡلَىٰ	sayaṣlā	He will be burnt
نَارٗا	nāran	(in) a Fire
ذَاتَ	dhāta	of
لَهَبٖ	lahabin	Blazing Flames
وَٱمۡرَأَتُهُۥ	wa-im'ra-atuhu	And his wife
حَمَّالَةَ	ḥammālata	(the) carrier
ٱلۡحَطَبِ	l-ḥaṭabi	(of) firewood
فِي	fī	In
جِيدِهَا	jīdihā	her neck
حَبۡلٞ	ḥablun	(will be) a rope
مِّن	min	of
مَّسَدِۭ	masadin	palm-fiber

Living by Surah Al-Masad

• Family ties don't save anyone. Abu Lahab was the Prophet's ﷺ uncle; only faith and deeds count.
• Wealth and status don't protect. "His wealth will not avail him."
• Don't carry firewood. Gossip and slander are fuel for fire, in this world and the next.
• Couples can lead each other either way. Abu Lahab and his wife encouraged each other in harm; be a spouse who helps toward good.
• Trust the Quran's promises. It foretold Abu Lahab's end, and he could not undo it.

Open Surah Al-Masad to read and listen to it with its translation.