this world and becomes frail, he is in a state of loss and decline—except for the believers, for their rewards and the credit of the righteous deeds they used to perform in their youth and good health are recorded for them. This is like His saying: “We certainly created man in the finest stature; then We reduced him to the lowest of the low, except those who believe and do righteous deeds.”

Surah al-Humazah is Meccan (1). In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

“Woe to every slanderer and backbiter (1).”

“Woe to every slanderer and backbiter”: Ibn Abbas said: They are those who go about spreading talebearing, who sow division between loved ones, and who seek out faults in the innocent (2). The two terms have one meaning: a person who finds fault with others.

Muqatil said: The slanderer is one who criticizes you behind your back, while the backbiter is one who criticizes you to your face. Abu al-Aliyah and al-Hasan said the opposite.

Said ibn Jubayr and Qatadah said: The slanderer is one who eats the flesh of people—that is, backbites them—while the backbiter is one who maligns them.

Ibn Zayd said: The slanderer is one who prods people with his hand and strikes them, while the backbiter is one who disparages and finds fault with them using his tongue.

Sufyan al-Thawri said: He slanders with his tongue and backbites with his eye. Ibn Kaysan said similarly: The slanderer is one who harms his companion with offensive speech, while the backbiter is one who winks with his eye, gestures with his head, and signals with his eyebrow. Both are active descriptive forms, like sukharah and duhakāh, referring to one who mocks and laughs at people. The forms humzah and lumzah—with an unvowelled mīm—refer to the person to whom this is done (3).