“O Allah, to whomsoever of the Children of Adam You have entrusted me and made me belong, make me the dearest of his household and his property to him.”

Thirteenth: Allah, Exalted be He, swore by the horses in His Book, and this is proof of their honor and virtue in His sight. He, the Most High, says: “By the panting chargers, striking sparks of fire, and launching raids at dawn” (Al-ʿĀdiyāt 1–3).

He—glorified be He—swore by the horses that charge forth in His cause. Ad-ḍabḥ is the sound that issues from their chests when they run (1).

“Striking sparks of fire” means that their hooves kindle sparks when they hit the stones.

“And thereby raise clouds of dust, and thereby penetrate into the midst of a host” (verses 4–5). An-naqʿ is the dust stirred up by the horses as they gallop (2).

As for the pronoun “thereby” (bihi), some said it refers to “striking sparks,” but this is weak, for dust is not raised by sparks. Others said it goes back to the place being raided, indicated by His words “the raiders,” meaning they stirred up dust in the area they attacked because of their constant movement within it. It is also permissible that it refers to the very act of raiding—i.e., they raised dust on account of the raid (3). Another possibility is that it refers to the galloping understood from the word