Surah 26. Ash-Shu'ara

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Verses [Section]: 1-9[1], 10-33 [2], 34-51 [3], 52-68 [4], 69-104 [5], 105-122 [6], 123-140 [7], 141-159 [8], 160-175 [9], 176-191 [10], 192-227 [11]

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Quran Text of Verse 141-159كَذَّبَتْDeniedثَمُوْدُThamudالْمُرْسَلِیْنَۚۖthe Messengers اِذْWhenقَالَsaidلَهُمْto themاَخُوْهُمْtheir brotherصٰلِحٌSalihاَلَاWill notتَتَّقُوْنَۚyou fear (Allah) اِنِّیْIndeed I amلَكُمْto youرَسُوْلٌa Messengerاَمِیْنٌۙtrustworthy فَاتَّقُواSo fearاللّٰهَAllahوَ اَطِیْعُوْنِۚand obey me وَ مَاۤAnd notاَسْـَٔلُكُمْI ask youعَلَیْهِfor itمِنْanyاَجْرٍ ۚpaymentاِنْNotاَجْرِیَ(is) my paymentاِلَّاexceptعَلٰیfromرَبِّ(the) Lordالْعٰلَمِیْنَؕ(of) the worlds اَتُتْرَكُوْنَWill you be leftفِیْinمَاwhatهٰهُنَاۤ(is) hereاٰمِنِیْنَۙsecure فِیْInجَنّٰتٍgardensوَّ عُیُوْنٍۙand springs وَّ زُرُوْعٍAnd cornfieldsوَّ نَخْلٍand date-palmsطَلْعُهَاits spadixهَضِیْمٌۚsoft وَ تَنْحِتُوْنَAnd you carveمِنَofالْجِبَالِthe mountainsبُیُوْتًاhousesفٰرِهِیْنَۚskillfully فَاتَّقُواSo fearاللّٰهَAllahوَ اَطِیْعُوْنِۚand obey me وَ لَاAnd (do) notتُطِیْعُوْۤاobeyاَمْرَ(the) commandالْمُسْرِفِیْنَۙ(of) the transgressors الَّذِیْنَThose whoیُفْسِدُوْنَspread corruptionفِیinالْاَرْضِthe earthوَ لَاand (do) notیُصْلِحُوْنَ reform قَالُوْۤاThey saidاِنَّمَاۤOnlyاَنْتَyouمِنَ(are) ofالْمُسَحَّرِیْنَۚthose bewitched مَاۤNotاَنْتَyouاِلَّا(are) exceptبَشَرٌa manمِّثْلُنَا ۖۚlike usفَاْتِso bringبِاٰیَةٍa signاِنْifكُنْتَyouمِنَ(are) ofالصّٰدِقِیْنَ the truthful قَالَHe saidهٰذِهٖThisنَاقَةٌ(is) a she-camelلَّهَاFor herشِرْبٌ(is a share of) drinkوَّ لَكُمْand for youشِرْبُ(is a share of) drinkیَوْمٍ(on) a dayمَّعْلُوْمٍۚknown وَ لَاAnd (do) notتَمَسُّوْهَاtouch herبِسُوْٓءٍwith harmفَیَاْخُذَكُمْlest seize youعَذَابُ(the) punishmentیَوْمٍ(of) a Dayعَظِیْمٍ Great فَعَقَرُوْهَاBut they hamstrung herفَاَصْبَحُوْاthen they becameنٰدِمِیْنَۙregretful فَاَخَذَهُمُSo seized themالْعَذَابُ ؕthe punishmentاِنَّIndeedفِیْinذٰلِكَthatلَاٰیَةً ؕsurely is a signوَ مَاbut notكَانَareاَكْثَرُهُمْmost of themمُّؤْمِنِیْنَ believers وَ اِنَّAnd indeedرَبَّكَyour Lordلَهُوَsurely Heالْعَزِیْزُ(is) the All-Mightyالرَّحِیْمُ۠the Most Merciful

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Translation of Verse 141-159

(26:141) The Thamud gave the lie to the Messengers.⁹⁵

(26:142) Recall when their brother Salih said to them: "Have you no fear?"

(26:143) "I am a trustworthy Messenger to you.⁹⁶

(26:144) So fear Allah and obey me.

(26:145) I ask of you no reward. My reward is with none but the Lord of the Universe.

(26:146) Do you believe that you will be left here to live securely in the present state⁹⁷

(26:147) amidst gardens and springs

(26:148) and cornfields and date-palms laden with juicy fruits?⁹⁸

(26:149) You hew dwellings in mountains and exult in that.⁹⁹

(26:150) Fear Allah and obey me

(26:151) and do not follow the biddings of those that go to excesses

(26:152) and spread mischief in the land rather than set things right."¹⁰⁰

(26:153) They replied: "You are nothing but one of those who are bewitched;¹⁰¹

(26:154) you are no different from a mortal like us. So produce a sign if you are truthful."¹⁰²

(26:155) Salih said: "This is a she-camel.¹⁰³ There is a day set for her to drink and there is a day set for you to drink.¹⁰⁴

(26:156) Do not molest her lest the chastisement of an Awesome Day should seize you."

(26:157) But they hamstrung her¹⁰⁵ and then regretted it.

(26:158) So the chastisement seized them.¹⁰⁶ Surely there is a Sign in this, but most of them would not believe.

(26:159) Verily Your Lord is Immensely Mighty, Most Compassionate.

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Commentary

95. For comparison see al-A ‘raf 7:73-9; Hid 11:61-8; al-Hijr 15:80-4, and Bani Isra’il 17:59. For more details see al-Nam/ 27:45-53; al-Dhariyat 51:43-5; al-Qamar 54:23-31; al-Hdqqah 69:4-S; al-Fajr 89:90 and al- Shams 91:11.

According to the Qur anic account of this nation, the Thamud attained glory and power after the destruction of the ‘Ad: “And call to mind when He made you successors after the ‘Ad ...” (al-A ‘raf 7:74). Their civilization, however, followed the same route as the ‘Ad. Whilst standards of living rose, morality fell. On the one hand, they were erecting palaces on the vast plains, and carving beautiful houses out of the hills, but on the other hand, idolatry and polytheism were rampant. Positions of leadership among the Thamud were occupied by those most notorious for their wickedness and iniquity. Men and women of their high society Had become arrogant and vain. The Prophet Salih’s Message Had an appeal only to the weak who belonged to the lower social strata. As for the people of rank and wealth, they utterly refused to accept his Message, saying: “Most certainly we disbelieve in that which you believe” (al-A ‘raf 7:76).

96. The Qur’an cites the testimony of the nation of Salih as also his own moral integrity and extraordinary ability in these words: “They said: ‘O Salih, till now you were such a person among us of whom we Had great expectations’ (Hud 11:62).

97. Do they think that this life of indulgence would be theirs forever, that it would never end? Do they think that they would not be questioned about the blessings that Had been bestowed upon them and that they would not be asked about their deeds?

98. Hadim refers to the heavy bunches of soft and tender dates which hang from the date-palms and appear to be ready to burst forth. (See Ibn Manzur, Lasan al-‘Arab, q.v. H D M - Ed.)

99. Just as the ‘Ad were famous for their high, colonnaded buildings, the Thamud were renowned for carving beautiful buildings out of the hills. In Surah al-Fajr, the ‘Ad are called “the people of colonnades” ( 89:7) and the epithet used for the Thamud is “those who carved ridges in the valleys” (89:9). The Qur’an also tells us that they used to make huge palaces in the plains: “... you took for yourselves palaces in its plains ...” (al-A ‘raf 7:74). What was the use of these buildings? The Qur’an sheds light on it by using the word farihin that is, this was all for the sake of show, of demonstrating their wealth and skill, whilst the buildings themselves were devoid of any substantive utility. (See Ibn Manzur, Lisan al- 1 ‘Arab, q.v. F R H - Ed.) This is typical of a decadent society. Whilst the poor cannot find even the bare minimum of shelter, the rich and affluent erect stately palaces. When even this does not satiate their thirst for grandeur, they resort to raising grandiose monuments to themselves. Co Some of the buildings of the Thamud are still intact, and I did, indeed have the opportunity to see them for myself in December 1959. The place itself is located between Tabuk and Madina, lying a few miles to the north of al- Ula’ (called Wadi al-Qura in the time of the Prophet (peace be on him). Nowadays, this is known as al-Hijr and Mada’in Salih. As far as al- ‘Ula’ is concerned, it is still located in lush green surroundings in the midst of springs and orchards.

An ominous atmosphere, however, surrounds al-Hijr. Not only is it very sparsely populated, but it is a ruined place which gives a feeling of doom and decay.

The few who live there do so in an area devoid of greenery and vegetation. Of the few wells that remain, one is identified by the local populace as that from which Salih’s she-camel used to drink. Now, this well is inside a former military barrack dating back to the Turkish period, and is dry. When we arrived here, our first impression was of hills rendered into heaps of broken rocks, as if by a violent earthquake. We also observed a similar chain of hills which spanned a distance of about 50 miles from al- ‘Ula’ to the east in the direction of Khaybar, and towards the north about 30 to 40 miles inside Jordan. This means that it was a huge area of about three to four hundred miles long by one hundred miles wide, all destroyed by some massive earthquake.

We also saw buildings of the type constructed by the Thamud at al-Hijr in Midian along the Gulf of ‘Aqabah and at Petra in Jordan (See art. “Petra” in Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol. 9, p. 339 — Ed.) As regards Petra, the buildings of the Thamud and the Nabateans stand side by side; their carvings and designs are so dissimilar that even a layman can positively say that they belong to two different periods and to two different nations.

The English Orientalist, Charles Doughty (d. 1926), the author of Travels in Arabia Deserta (published in 1888), attempted to prove that the Qur’an was false on the grounds of his theory that the buildings at al-Hijr were not constructed by the Thamud but rather by the Nabateans. (See art. “Nabateans” in Encyclopedia Britannica: Micropaedia, Vol. 8, p. 473 — Ed.) However, the difference between the architectural designs of the people of Thamud and Nabateans is so clear that only someone who is altogether blind could suggest such a theory. My own view is that these mountain-carving skills were begun by the Thamud but perfected by the Nabateans several thousand years later, sometime during the second and the first centuries B.C. Thereafter, this art form reached its zenith in Ellora in India, whose artful caves belong to a period about seven hundred years after those of Petra.

100. The Thamud were asked to relinquish their servitude to the chiefs, nobles and rulers under whose leadership their corrupt system of life operated.

They were the ones who Had transgressed all moral limits and lived as untamed brutes. They could not be expected, therefore, to bring about any reform. Rather, they could only corrupt any system that they administered. The only way the people would engender reform was to become God-fearing, to forego obeying transgressors, and instead follow the Prophet Salih's instruction because he was God’s Messenger. They were already witnesses to Salih’s honesty and trustworthiness and knew him to be selfless. This. then, was the core of the manifesto which the Prophet Salih presented before his nation. It was not just religious preaching, but the call for a pervasive cultural, moral and political revolution.

101. According to ancient conceptions, madness occurred either because of the influence of a jinn or magic. Therefore. if people wanted to call someone mad, they used such epithets as majnun, mashur or musahhar.

102. They contended that they did not see any palpable difference between the Prophet Salih and themselves, i.e. there was nothing which fully convinced them that he was God’s Messenger. If Salih’s claim were true, then he should present them with a miracle that would convince them that he Had indeed been sent by the Creator of the Universe, by the Lord of the heavens and the earth.

103. In response to their demand for a miracle, a she-camel was brought to them. It must have. been an extraordinary she-camel, unlike the camels that the Arabs then Had, either with regard to its birth, or in the manner in which it emerged before the people, or in its structure. For it would have been meaningless for the Prophet Salih to present an ordinary camel in response to demands for a miracle.

All this can be inferred from the context in which this she-camel is mentioned. At other places in the Qur’an, however, this she-camel is mentioned in clear terms as a miracle: “... This she-camel from Allah is a divine portent for you” (al-A ‘raf 7:73; Hud 11:64}. In Surah Bani Isra’il, the same is stated more emphatically: “Nothing hindered Us from sending Our signs except that the people of olden times rejected them as lies. We publicly sent the she-camel to the Thamud to open their eyes but they wronged her. We never send Our signs except to cause men to fear” (17:59).

Additionally, it was soon after this she-camel was brought forth that this unbelieving nation was issued with a challenge. Such was the nature of the challenge that it could only have been made after a miracle Had been delivered.

104. This she-camel and all the other Thamud’s animals were required to drink from the wells and springs on alternate days. No one was allowed anywhere near the-places of water on the day apportioned for the she camel.

This, in itself, was a very stern challenge but in the particular case of the Arabs, nothing could have been more demanding. For theirs was a society in which people constantly fought over water access. Indeed, wars were fought to secure access to wells and springs. So for a person to proclaim that on a certain day only his she-camel would have the right to all the watering places was an open challenge to the whole nation.

Normally, such a proclamation could not be made without the backing of a strong army, without a huge contingent of archers and swordsmen. Yet Salih made this extraordinary statement all by himself, and his people, all of them, accepted it without a word, obeying it for a long time. In Surah al-A‘raf and Hud we find the addition of the following words: “so leave her alone to pasture ... and touch her with no evil”, and, “This she-camel ... is a divine portent for you. So leave her alone to pasture on Allah’s earth, and touch her with no evil ...” (7:73 and 11:64). Thus, the challenge was not Just about water but also that the she-camel be able to graze in their fields gardens and groves with impunity. She would be able to go wherever she wished and eat whatever she wished and still no one would be allowed to touch her.

105. This does not mean that as soon as they heard the challenge, they pounced upon the she-camel, hamstringing her. In fact, the she-camel remained among them for quite some time, presenting more and more of a problem each day. They discussed the situation among themselves.

deliberated about how to cope with her, and then finally one of their more daring chiefs took it upon himself to rid his nation of the problem once and for all. This is mentioned in Surah al-Shams in these words: “When that most hapless wretch from among them rushed forward [to commit this evil deed]” (91:12). In Surah al-Qamar, the same incident is mentioned in these words: “But they called their companion, who undertook the task and hamstrung her” (54:29)

106. Elsewhere in the Qur’an, this punishment is mentioned in greater detail. When the she-camel was killed, Salih announced: “Enjoy yourselves fora maximum of three days” (Hud 11:65). At the end of this period, there was a fierce blast, at dawn, followed by an earthquake which annihilated the whole nation. When the light of the day spread, corpses lay scattered like the dry twigs of a fence-hedge, or the pasture trampled by animals. Neither their stone castles nor their rocky, cave homes could save them: “Surely, we sent against them a single blast and they became like the dried-up, crumbling twigs of a sheepfold” (al-Qamar 54:31). “Thereupon a shocking catastrophe seized them, so that they lay prostrate in their dwellings” (al-A ‘raf 7:78). “Then the blast caught them in the morning; whatever they Had been earning proved of no avail” (al-Hijr 15:83-4).