“And by the father and that which he begot! We have certainly created man in hardship. Does he think that no one has power over him? He says, ‘I have spent wealth in abundance.’”

“And by the father and that which he begot” refers to Adam, peace be upon him, and his progeny. “We have certainly created man in hardship”: al-Walibi narrated from Ibn Abbas: in toil. Al-Hasan said: “He endures the afflictions of this world and the hardships of the Hereafter.” Qatadah said: “In difficulty: you find him enduring the affairs of this world and the Hereafter.”

Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: “In severity.” ‘Ata’ narrated from Ibn Abbas: (1) in the hardship of his creation—his conception, birth, nursing, weaning and separation from the breast, livelihood, life, and death.

‘Amr ibn Dinar said: “At the time his teeth emerge.” Yaman said: “Allah has not created any creature that endures what the son of Adam endures, although he is, despite that, the weakest of creatures.” The basic meaning of kabad is hardship.

Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah, ‘Atiyyah, and al-Dahhak said: It means upright and straight in stature. Every creature that is created walks bent over, according to a report from Muqsim on the authority of Ibn Abbas. (2) The basic meaning of kabad is balance and uprightness.

Ibn Kaysan said: His head is upright in his mother’s womb; then, when Allah permits his emergence, his head turns toward his mother’s feet.

Muqatil said: “In hardship” means: in strength.

It was revealed concerning Abu al-Ashaddayn, whose name was Usayd ibn Kildah al-Jumahi. He was intensely strong: he would place a tough hide from ‘Ukaz beneath his feet and say, “Whoever moves me from it shall have such-and-such.” It could not be pulled from beneath his feet except by being cut into pieces, while the imprint of his feet remained. “Does he think”—that is, Abu al-Ashaddayn, because of his strength—“that no one has power over him?” In other words, because of his great strength, he supposes that Allah Most High will not have power over him. It was also said that this refers to al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah. “He says, ‘I have spent’” means: I have expended, “wealth in abundance”—that is, a great deal of wealth, piled one upon another, in enmity toward Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

Abu Ja‘far recited it as lubbadan, with the b doubled, as a plural form of labid, analogous to raki‘ and rukka‘. The others recited it with a single b, as the plural of libdah; and it was also said that it is singular, like qutham and hutam.