The same notes the map shows when you tap a line, written out in verse order, each with its source.
Notes on single verses
Lahab — his name in verse 1, the fire in verse 3
111:1
Without the article, lahab occurs twice in the Quran and both are in this surah. Verse 1: abi lahab. Verse 3: naran dhata lahab, a fire of flame. The commentaries say the name was a nickname he already carried, which is what makes the second one land — the surah does not invent a punishment to fit him, it uses the word he was already called by. The root turns up once more, as al-lahab at al-Mursalat 77:31, and that verse says the flame is the thing nothing avails against — the same verb 111:2 uses for his wealth.
Source: The bare lahab occurs at 111:1 and 111:3 only; the definite al-lahab occurs at 77:31, which uses yughni, the verb 111:2 uses as aghna. Checked in the Arabic.
The verb occurs twice in the Quran, and both are in this verse
111:1
Tabbat yada abi lahabin wa-tabb. Ruined are the two hands of Abu Lahab, and ruined is he. The verb tabba appears nowhere else in the Quran; the root turns up as a noun at Hud 11:101 and Ghafir 40:37, but as a verb it is here, twice in the same line. The hands go first — the part that does things — and then the man.
Source: The verb tabba occurs only in 111:1, twice. The root t-b-b also gives tatbib at 11:101 and tabab at 40:37. Checked in the Arabic.
His wealth did not avail him, in the only two places the phrase appears
111:2
Al-Layl 92:11: wa ma yughni ’anhu maluhu idha taradda — his wealth will not avail him when he falls. Al-Masad 111:2: ma aghna ’anhu maluhu wa ma kasab — his wealth did not avail him, nor what he earned. The three words ’anhu maluhu occur twice in the Quran and that is both. One is in the imperfect, about anyone; this one is in the perfect, about a man with a name.
Source: The phrase ’anhu maluhu occurs at 92:11 and 111:2 only; 92:11 uses yughni, 111:2 aghna. Checked in the Arabic.
Carrying the firewood, and being it
111:4
Hammalata al-hatab. The root h-t-b occurs twice in the Quran. Al-Jinn 72:15: as for those who deviate, they are firewood for Hell. Al-Masad 111:4: she is the carrier of the firewood. The commentaries read her carrying literally, as thorns laid in his path, and figuratively, as carrying slander between people; the surah gives the phrase and no explanation.
Source: The root h-t-b occurs at 72:15 and 111:4 only. The readings of what she carried are a long-standing difference among the commentators.
Two words used once each in the Quran, both in the last verse
111:5
Fi jidiha hablun min masad. Jid, the neck, occurs once in the Quran. Masad, the twisted palm-fibre, occurs once. Both are in this one verse, and the surah takes its name from the second — so it is named after a word that appears nowhere else in the book, in its own final line.
Source: A search of the whole Quran returns jid and masad at 111:5 only. Checked in the Arabic.
Connections inside the surah
The name and the flame are one word
Echo · 111:1 and 111:3
Abi lahab in verse 1, dhata lahab in verse 3. Two verses apart, the same word does the naming and the burning, and these are the only two places the Quran uses it without the article. It appears once more with one, at al-Mursalat 77:31.
Source: The bare lahab occurs at 111:1 and 111:3 only; the definite al-lahab occurs once, at 77:31. Checked in the Arabic.
A man, what he was counting on, and then his wife
Axis · 111:1–5
Ruined are his hands, and so is he. His wealth and his earnings did not avail him. He will burn in a fire of flame. And his wife, carrier of the firewood, with a rope of palm-fibre at her neck. Three verses on him, two on her, and no argument offered anywhere in it.
Source: 111:1 to 111:5 state this.
Connections to other surahs
A people coming in, and one man who did not
111:1 → an-Nasr 110:2
An-Nasr 110:2, in the surah immediately before: you see people entering the religion of Allah in crowds. Al-Masad 111:1 names a single man and says his hands are ruined. Read in order, the many arrive and then the one who stayed outside is named — and he is the Prophet’s ﷺ own uncle, which is the point the commentaries draw from the pairing.
Source: 110:2 describes the crowds and 111:1 names the man. Reading them in sequence is a structural observation.
His wealth will not avail him, and his wealth did not
111:2 → al-Layl 92:11
Al-Layl 92:11: wa ma yughni ’anhu maluhu idha taradda. Al-Masad 111:2: ma aghna ’anhu maluhu wa ma kasab. The words ’anhu maluhu occur twice in the Quran and these are both. Al-Layl says it in the imperfect about whoever withholds and thinks he needs nothing; al-Masad says it in the perfect, about one man, with his name three words earlier.
Source: The phrase ’anhu maluhu occurs at 92:11 and 111:2 only, in the imperfect and the perfect. Checked in the Arabic.
He thought it would make him last
111:2 → al-Humazah 104:3
Al-Humazah 104:2 and 104:3: one who gathered wealth and counted it over, reckoning his wealth would make him immortal. Al-Masad 111:2 gives the result in four words: it did not avail him, nor did what he earned. One surah describes the calculation and the other reports how it came out, and neither names what the wealth was for.
Source: 104:2 and 104:3 state the reckoning; 111:2 states the outcome. Both use the root m-w-l. Checked in the Arabic.
What a person earns, as a pledge and as a thing that did not help
111:2 → al-Muddaththir 74:38
Al-Muddaththir 74:38: every soul is held in pledge for what it has earned. Al-Masad 111:2: his wealth did not avail him, nor what he earned. The same root for earning in both — in one it is what holds you, in the other it is what failed to.
Source: 74:38 uses kasabat and 111:2 uses kasab, both from k-s-b. Checked in the Arabic.
A man whose wealth did not help, and the One who needs nothing
111:2 → al-Ikhlas 112:2
Al-Masad 111:2 is about a man finding out what his wealth was worth. Al-Ikhlas 112:2, two surahs later, gives as-samad — the One everything turns to and who needs nothing from anyone. The last stretch of the mushaf puts the two next to each other without drawing the comparison out loud.
Source: 111:2 states the failure of his wealth; 112:2 names as-samad. Reading them against each other is a structural observation.
Said about a man, and said by one
111:2 → al-Haqqah 69:28
Al-Masad 111:2: his wealth did not avail him, nor what he earned — stated from outside, about a man who was alive when it was revealed. Al-Haqqah 69:28: ma aghna ’anni maliyah, my wealth did not avail me — the same finding in the first person, said by someone who has just been handed his record in his left hand.
Source: 111:2 and 69:28 run the same construction in the third person and the first. Checked in the Arabic.
Naran, and then what kind
111:3 → al-Ghashiyah 88:4
Al-Ghashiyah 88:4: tasla naran hamiyah, they burn in a scorching fire. Al-Masad 111:3: sayasla naran dhata lahab, he will burn in a fire of flame. The same verb and the same indefinite naran with a qualifier after it. Al-Ghashiyah is describing faces, plural and unnamed; this one has a sa- on the front and one man in view.
Source: Both verses use the root s-l-y with naran plus a qualifier; 111:3 prefixes sa-. Checked in the Arabic.
Firewood carried, and firewood become
111:4 → al-Jinn 72:15
Al-Jinn 72:15: as for those who deviate from justice, they are firewood for Hell. Al-Masad 111:4: and his wife, the carrier of the firewood. The root occurs twice in the Quran and these are both — once for what people turn into, and once for what somebody carries.
Source: The root h-t-b occurs at 72:15 and 111:4 only. Checked in the Arabic.
Ayah Unpacked – Connection Map