Allah says: (Until, when Dhul-Qarnayn reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring.) The readers differed on how
to read this. Some of the readers of Madina and Basra read it as (in a muddy spring), meaning
that the sun sets in a spring that contains mud. While a group of the readers of Medina
and the majority of the people of Kufa read it as, (in a warm spring) meaning that the sun
sets in a spring of warm water. The people of commentary have differed on the meaning of
this depending on the way they read the verse.
Mention of those who said: setting in a muddy spring
Muhammad b. Al-Muthanna ← Ibn Abi Uday ← Dawud ← Ikrimah ← Ibn Abbas:
(and he found it setting in a muddy spring) he said: In black mud.
Ibn al-Muthanna ← Abd al-Ala ← Dawud ← Ikrimah on the authority of Ibn Abbas,
that he recited: (in a muddy spring) he said: it is black mud.
Al-Husayn b. Al-Junayd ← Sayd b. Salamah ← Ismail b. Aliyah ← Uthman b. Hadir: I
heard Abdullah b. Abbas said: Muawiyah recited this verse, and he said (warm spring)
and Ibn Abbas said: it is (muddy spring). He said: So they sent to Ka'b Al-Ahbar and
asked him. Ka'b said: As for the sun, it disappears in 'Thatin', which matched what
Ibn Abbas said, and the word tha'at means "mud".
Yunus ← Ibn Wahb ← Nafi' b. Abu Na'im ← Abd Al-Rahim Al'Araj: Ibn Abbas used
to speak about the muddy spring and would pronounce the word as (in a muddy spring) then he
explained it as black mud. Nafi' said that Ka'b was asked about it and he said:
"You are more knowledgeable in the Quran than I am, but I find it in the Book disappearing in
black mud."
Muhammad b. Saad ← his father ← His uncle ← his father ← his father ←
Ibn Abbas: (and he found it setting in a muddy spring) he said: it is black
mud.
Muhammad b. Amr ← Abu Asim ← Issa ← Ibn Abi Najih ← Mujahid: (in a muddy
spring). He said: black mud.
Al-Qasim ← Al-Husayn ← Hajjaj ← Ibn Jurayj ← Mujahid: (it setting in a
muddy spring). he said: mud.
He said: And Amr b. Dinar ← Ata b. Abi Rabah ← Ibn Abbas: I read (in a muddy
spring) And Amr bin Al-Aas recited (in a warm spring), so we were sent to Ka'b. He
said: It sets into black mud.
Bishr ← Yazid ← Sayd ← Qatadah: (setting in a muddy spring) and the
mud: the black mud.
Muhammad b. 'Abd al-A'laa ← Marwan b. Mu'awiya ← Warqa ← Sayd b. Jubayr:
Ibn 'Abbas used to read this letter (In a muddy spring) and he said: Black mud that the
sun sets in.
Others said: Rather, it disappears in a hot spring. Mention of those who
said that:
Ali ← Abdullah ← Muawiyah ← Ali ← Ibn Abbas (he found it setting in a
warm spring) and he said: In a hot spring.
Yaqub ← Ibn Aliyah ← Abu Raja ← al-Hasan: (In a warm spring) he said:
it is hot.
Al-Hasan ← Abd al-Razzaq ← Mamar: al-Hasan regarding (In a hot spring) he
said: It is hot. al-Hasan also read it this way.
Muhammad b. Al-Muthanna ← Yazid b. Harun ← The common people ← A freed slave of Abdullah b.
Amr ← Abdullah: "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
looked at the sun when it set, and said: 'In the blazing fire of Allah, in the blazing
fire of Allah: If it wasn't for Allah's command, the sun would burn all those
who are on earth.'"