وَ لَقَدْ And certainly كَذَّبَ denied اَصْحٰبُ (the) companions الْحِجْرِ (of) the Rocky Tract الْمُرْسَلِیْنَۙ the Messengers وَ اٰتَیْنٰهُمْ And We gave them اٰیٰتِنَا Our Signs فَكَانُوْا but they were عَنْهَا from them مُعْرِضِیْنَۙ turning away وَ كَانُوْا And they used (to) یَنْحِتُوْنَ carve مِنَ from الْجِبَالِ the mountains بُیُوْتًا houses اٰمِنِیْنَ secure فَاَخَذَتْهُمُ But seized them الصَّیْحَةُ the awful cry مُصْبِحِیْنَۙ (at) early morning فَمَاۤ And not اَغْنٰی availed عَنْهُمْ them مَّا what كَانُوْا they used (to) یَكْسِبُوْنَؕ earn وَ مَا And not خَلَقْنَا We created السَّمٰوٰتِ the heavens وَ الْاَرْضَ and the earth وَ مَا and whatever بَیْنَهُمَاۤ (is) between them اِلَّا except بِالْحَقِّ ؕ in truth وَ اِنَّ And indeed السَّاعَةَ the Hour لَاٰتِیَةٌ (is) surely coming فَاصْفَحِ So overlook الصَّفْحَ (with) forgiveness الْجَمِیْلَ gracious اِنَّ Indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord هُوَ He الْخَلّٰقُ (is) the Creator الْعَلِیْمُ the All-Knower وَ لَقَدْ And certainly اٰتَیْنٰكَ We have given you سَبْعًا seven مِّنَ of الْمَثَانِیْ the oft-repeated وَ الْقُرْاٰنَ and the Quran الْعَظِیْمَ Great لَا (Do) not تَمُدَّنَّ extend عَیْنَیْكَ your eyes اِلٰی towards مَا what مَتَّعْنَا We have bestowed بِهٖۤ with it اَزْوَاجًا (to) categories مِّنْهُمْ of them وَ لَا and (do) not تَحْزَنْ grieve عَلَیْهِمْ over them وَ اخْفِضْ And lower جَنَاحَكَ your wing لِلْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ to the believers وَ قُلْ And say اِنِّیْۤ Indeed I اَنَا [I] am النَّذِیْرُ a warner الْمُبِیْنُۚ clear كَمَاۤ As اَنْزَلْنَا We sent down عَلَی on الْمُقْتَسِمِیْنَۙ those who divided 15. Al-Hijr Page 267 الَّذِیْنَ Those who جَعَلُوا have made الْقُرْاٰنَ the Quran عِضِیْنَ (in) parts فَوَرَبِّكَ So by your Lord لَنَسْـَٔلَنَّهُمْ surely We will question them اَجْمَعِیْنَۙ all عَمَّا About what كَانُوْا they used (to) یَعْمَلُوْنَ do فَاصْدَعْ So proclaim بِمَا of what تُؤْمَرُ you are ordered وَ اَعْرِضْ and turn away عَنِ from الْمُشْرِكِیْنَ the polytheists اِنَّا Indeed We كَفَیْنٰكَ [We] are sufficient for you الْمُسْتَهْزِءِیْنَۙ (against) the mockers الَّذِیْنَ Those who یَجْعَلُوْنَ set up مَعَ with اللّٰهِ Allah اِلٰهًا god اٰخَرَ ۚ another فَسَوْفَ But soon یَعْلَمُوْنَ they will come to know وَ لَقَدْ And verily نَعْلَمُ We know اَنَّكَ that [you] یَضِیْقُ (is) straitened صَدْرُكَ your breast بِمَا by what یَقُوْلُوْنَۙ they say فَسَبِّحْ So glorify بِحَمْدِ with the praise رَبِّكَ (of) your Lord وَ كُنْ and be مِّنَ of السّٰجِدِیْنَۙ those who prostrate وَ اعْبُدْ And worship رَبَّكَ your Lord حَتّٰی until یَاْتِیَكَ comes to you الْیَقِیْنُ۠ the certainty
(15:80) Surely the people of al-Hijr45 also rejected the Messengers, calling them liars.
(15:81) We also gave them Our Signs, yet they turned away from them.
(15:82) They used to hew out houses from the mountains46 and lived in security.
(15:83) Then the Blast caught them in the morning
(15:84) and whatever they had been earning proved of no avail.
(15:85) We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is in between them except with Truth.47 Surely the Hour will come. So, (O Muhammad), do graciously overlook them (despite their misdeeds).
(15:86) Your Lord is indeed the Creator of all, the All-Knowing.48
(15:87) We have indeed bestowed on you the seven oft-repeated verses49 and the Great Qur'an.50
(15:88) Do not even cast your eyes towards the worldly goods We have granted to different kinds of people, nor grieve over the state they are in,51 but turn your loving attention to the believers instead,
(15:89) and clearly tell the unbelievers: "I am most certainly a plain warner,"
(15:90) even as We had sent warning to those who had divided their religion into fragments;
(15:91) those who had split up their Qur'an into pieces.52
(15:92) By your Lord, We will question them all
(15:93) concerning what they have been doing.
(15:94) (O Prophet), proclaim what you are commanded, and pay no heed to those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity.
(15:95) Surely We suffice to deal with those who scoff at you,
(15:96) those who set up another deity alongside Allah. They shall soon come to know.
(15:97) We certainly know that their statements sorely grieve you.
(15:98) When (you feel so) glorify your Lord with His praise and prostrate yourself before Him,
(15:99) and worship your Lord until the last moment (of your life) that will most certainly come.53
45. Al-Hijr was the capital city of the people of Thamud. Its ruins are found to the north-west of Madina, a few miles from the present town of al-‘Ula’. The town lies en route from Madina to Tabak through which caravans still pass.
However, in accordance with the directive of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), travelers do not halt there. In the eighth century Hijrah, Ibn Battutah visited the place on his way to Makka. He says: ‘I have seen the buildings of Thamud hewed in red mountains; the paintings look so bright as if they have been put on only recently . . . and rotten bones of human beings are found in them even today’. Ibn Battutah, Muhadhdhab Rihlat Ibn Battutah, ed. Ahmad al-Awamir and Muhammad Jad al-Mawla’ (Cairo, al-Amiriyah, 1934), vol. 1, p. 89. (For further details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. III, al-A ‘raf 7, n. 57, p. 45 ff.)
46., That is, their sturdy, rock-hewn houses totally failed to protect them from God’s chastisement.
47. This is stated so as to comfort Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him).
He is told that even though falsehood apparently seemed to dominate and that there lay many obstacles and difficulties in the path of truth, one should not be daunted by them. For this state is purely transient and cannot endure. This is because the heavens and the earth have been created with truth. In fact, the whole universe is in consonance with the truth and discordant with falsehood.
It is the truth rather than falsehood which endures. (For further details see Ibrahim 14, nn. 25-6 and 35-9 above.)
48. Being the Creator, God holds total sway over all His creatures. None can elude His grip. Moreover, being the Creator, God is All-Knowing. He is fully aware of all the efforts made by Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) to reform his people. He is also fully cognizant of the stratagems of the Prophet’s enemies designed specifically to frustrate his efforts. Hence, there is no reason for the Prophet (peace be on him) to lose his patience. For in the course of time full justice will be done.
49. The expression ‘seven oft-repeated verses’ stands for the seven verses of the opening surah of the Qur’an, al-Fatihah. Some scholars, however, consider the expression to refer to the seven long surahs each of which has more than two hundred verses. These surahs are al-Baqarah, Al ‘Imran, al-Nisa’ al-Ma’ idah, al-An‘am, al-A ‘raf and Yunus or al-Anfal or al-Tawbah.
All the above-mentioned surahs are among the longer surahs of the Qur’an.* The vast majority of Muslim scholars, however, are agreed that the expression refers to al-Fatihah, Al-Bukhari mentions two traditions which show that the Prophet (peace be on him) himself clarified that the “seven repeated verses’ signified al-Fatihah. (See al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tafsir, ‘Bab Ma Ja’ fi Fatihat al-Kitab’ , Tafsir Surat al-Hijr, and ‘Bab Qawluh Wa la qad Ataynak Sab‘an min al-Mathani wa al-Qur’an al-‘Azim — Ed.)
50. This was also said with a view to comforting and consoling the Prophet (peace be on him) and his Companions. At that time, they were in a state of miserable suffering. Sometime after the assumption of his onerous responsibilities, the Prophet’s trade activities virtually came to a halt. The savings of his wife Khadijah were also exhausted during the course of about ten years. This much should suffice to explain the financial predicament of the Prophet (peace be on him). *It is not accurate to say that each of these surahs has two hundred or more verses. For the number of verses in al-Nisa’ is 176; in al-Ma’ idah, 120; in al-An‘am, 165: in al-Tawbah, 129 and in Yanus, 109 — Ed. So far as the rest of the Muslims are concerned, some young men were expelled from their homes. Those who were engaged in trade, or had some vocation, were financially crippled as a result of the economic boycott. In addition to these, many Muslims lacked any financial locus standi since their social status was that of slaves or clients (mawali). Thus, the Prophet (peace be on him) and his Companions had quite a miserable existence in Makka and the areas around it owing to the severe persecution to which they were subjected.
Everywhere they were ridiculed, insulted, and vilified. As if mental torture was not enough, they were also subjected to cruel physical chastisements. In sharp contrast to the lot of the Muslims, was the situation of the unbelievers of the Quraysh. Their chiefs were conspicuously prosperous. All kinds of worldly enjoyments were plentifully available to them.
It is in the context of these circumstances that the believers are being asked not to lose heart. For, God has blessed them with something which is far more valuable than all worldly riches. The moral and intellectual wealth granted to the Muslims is incomparably superior to the unlawfully earned material wealth in possession of the unbelievers. The latter kind of wealth will be of no avail to them for they will be utterly bankrupt when they appear before their Lord on the Day of Judgement.
51. The Prophet (peace be on him) is being asked not to grieve over the lot of the unbelievers. They mistook their sincere well-wisher for an enemy. They considered doctrinal errors and moral corruption as matters one ought to be proud of. They were well advanced on a path that would inevitably lead them to a disastrous end. Above all, they had spared no efforts to frustrate the teachings of the Prophet (peace be on him) who was engaged in striving to direct them to the way which would lead to their salvation. 52. The reference here is to the Jews. They have been branded as ‘muqtasimun’ since they had torn their religion into shreds by believing in certain parts of it and not in others. They had also added a great deal to their original religion and divested it of many of its original features, which gave rise to the scores of sects in their midst. They had also split their scripture, which for them was like the Qur’an is to Muslims, into fragments. The act mentioned here is in fact no other than what has been mentioned elsewhere in the Qur’an in the following words: ‘Do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest?’ (al-Baqarah 2: 85).
The purpose of the above statement is to warn the Muslims regarding matters for which the Jews had been warned earlier. The record of the Jews was highlighted in order that the Muslims might learn a lesson. The Jews had failed to heed warnings from God. This led to disastrous consequences. That this contained a lesson for the Muslims was quite evident. To fail to take heed of it amounted to choosing an end as tragic as that of the Jews. 53. Believers are bound to encounter hardships in the course of their efforts to propagate Islam and bring about reform in the lives of people. They can face the hardships and sufferings which come their way only with the help of Prayer and perseverance in the service of God. These will infuse them with patience, will raise their morale and also develop in them the steadfastness needed to carry out the mission that will please God, even in the face of opposition, condemnation and vilification.