وَٱمْرَأَتُهُۥ قَآئِمَةٌ فَضَحِكَتْ فَبَشَّرْنَٰهَا بِإِسْحَٰقَ وَمِن وَرَآءِ إِسْحَٰقَ يَعْقُوبَ · قَالَتْ يَٰوَيْلَتَىٰٓ ءَأَلِدُ وَأَنَا۠ عَجُوزٌ وَهَٰذَا بَعْلِى شَيْخًا إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَىْءٌ عَجِيبٌ · قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ ٱللَّهِ رَحْمَتُ ٱللَّهِ وَبَرَكَٰتُهُۥ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ ٱلْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُۥ حَمِيدٌ مَّجِيدٌ
wa'mraʾatuhū qāʾimatun fa-ḍaḥikat fa-bashsharnāhā bi-Isḥāqa wa min warāʾi Isḥāqa Yaʿqūb · qālat yā waylatā a-alidu wa anā ʿajūzun wa hādhā baʿlī shaykhā, inna hādhā la-shayʾun ʿajīb · qālū a-taʿjabīna min amri'llāh, raḥmatu'llāhi wa barakātuhū ʿalaykum ahla'l-bayt, innahū ḥamīdun majīd
"His wife was standing there, and she laughed. So We gave her the good news of Isaac, and after Isaac of Jacob. · She said: 'Alas for me! Shall I bear a child when I am an old woman and this husband of mine an old man? This is indeed an astonishing thing!' · They said: 'Do you wonder at the affair of God? The mercy of God and His blessings are upon you, people of this house. He is worthy of all praise, full of glory.'"
The root ض-ح-ك: to laugh. The root was treated at ʿAbasa 80/39 (ḍāḥikatun mustabshira) and al-Najm 53/43 (wa annahū huwa aḍḥaka wa abkā).
| Reading | What ḍaḥikat is | Ground |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | She laughed — the common sense of the word | The primary sense of the root |
| 2 | She was glad / relieved — on hearing that the guests were angels and were going to the people of Lot | The content of the preceding verse |
| 3 | She menstruated — some of the lexicographers record this sense of the word too | Its link with the news of the birth in the next verse |
The third explanation is transmitted as ascribed to the lexicographers; some of them reject this sense. I do not impose a preference.
| Reading | The order |
|---|---|
| A | She laughed first, then the good news came — the literal order of the verse |
| B | The good news came first, then she laughed — counted as fronting and postponement (taqdīm–taʾkhīr) |
Both readings are transmitted. The literal order of the verse is A; B has been proposed in order to explain the reason for the laughter. I do not impose a preference.
The verse gives one detail: the woman is standing. In al-Dhāriyāt, by contrast, fa-aqbalati'mraʾatuhū fī ṣarra — "she came forward with a cry".
I record this as an observation and record the difference between the two sūras: in al-Dhāriyāt there is movement (she came), in Hūd a stance (standing). The two depictions may be showing two moments of the same scene; I impose no preference.
yā waylatā is a vocative pattern in Arabic reporting astonishment or amazement. Word for word it means "woe to me", but in use it is less an imprecation than an exclamation of astonishment.
The pattern occurs in a few places in the Qurʾān (al-Furqān 25/28 — yā waylatā laytanī lam attakhidh fulānan khalīlā; al-Kahf 18/49; al-Māʾida 5/31). It was treated in al-Furqān.
And the difference of the use here must be recorded, and this is an observation about the language: in the other places the pattern reported regret; here it reports amazement. The pattern in itself carries no value.
The root ع-ج-ز: to be without strength, to be unable to do a thing. ʿAjūz — an old woman. The idea of "inability" in the root of the word is worth recording.
The root ب-ع-ل: baʿl — husband, spouse. The lexicographers record the sense "owner, master" for the word as well.
And the parsing of the word shaykhan is a grammatical question: it is in the accusative (a circumstantial accusative), whereas the predicate of the nominal sentence hādhā baʿlī would be in the nominative. The grammarians explain it as a circumstantial accusative: "this is my husband, being an old man." This is a grammatical note.
The root ع-ج-ب: to wonder. The root was treated at Qāf 50/2 (bal ʿajibū) and al-Raʿd 13/5 (wa in taʿjab fa-ʿajabun qawluhum). I rely on that treatment.
The answer hands back the word of the question. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.
And the finding recorded in al-Raʿd works here too: "In al-Raʿd the wonder is returned to the one addressed." The same technique is present in Hūd: the verb of wondering is turned back on the one who wonders.
And the content of the answer must be recorded: the answer gives not an explanation but a frame — min amri'llāh. How the thing will happen, that is, is not told; whose affair it is, is.
A note, per the method (Method): this construction occurs in one other place in the Qurʾān (al-Aḥzāb 33/33) and sectarian arguments have been conducted throughout history over whom it covers there. That verse was treated in al-Aḥzāb. In this commentary no side is taken.
What belongs here is this: at Hūd 11/73 the address is plain — Abraham's house is meant. And the pronoun is masculine plural: ʿalaykum — although the person addressed is a woman. The address, that is, covers not one person but a house. This is a grammatical note.
The root ح-م-د: praise. The root م-ج-د: honour, elevation, amplitude. The lexicographers explain majd as "a thing's being abundant and high".
The two names come here after a piece of good news. This is consistent with the sūra's line of closing each narrative with names suited to its subject (tabulated above).