Verses 45–53
These verses summarize the story of the prophet Ṣāliḥ and his people. The aspect of warning in this story dominates the aspect of glad tidings, as we mentioned at the beginning of the chapter.
Commentary
وَ لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنا إِلى ثَمُودَ أَخاهُمْ صالِحاً أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ فَإِذا هُمْ فَرِيقانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ٤٥
(27:45) And certainly We sent to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ, saying: Serve Allah. And lo (fa-idhā)! They became two sects (farīqān) quarrelling with each other (yakhtaṣimūna, from ikhtiṣām and takhāṣum).
Ikhtiṣām and takhāṣum mean “to quarrel with one another.” Farīqān (two sects) is in the dual form (tathniya) while the verb yakhtaṣimūna is a plural conjugation. The verse has used a plural verb (yakhtaṣimūna) for a dual noun (farīqān) because what is meant by “two sects” is his entire nation. Fa-idhā is fujāʾiyyah [that is, it means “and all of a sudden, unexpectedly”].
The meaning is: I swear that We certainly sent Ṣāliḥ to Thamūd, where Ṣāliḥ was their brother, meaning their relative. It was expected of them to be united in faith, but all of a sudden, they divided into two sects: believers and disbelievers. They started quarrelling about the truth, each saying, “The truth is with me.”
Perhaps what is meant by their “quarrelling” is what God has narrated about them elsewhere, where He says: The chief of those who behaved proudly among his people said to those who were considered weak, to those who believed from among them: Do you know that Ṣāliḥ has been sent by his Lord? They said: Surely we are believers in what he has been sent with. Those who were haughty said: Surely we are deniers of what you believe in (). This shows that one of the two sects was a group of a lower social class that believed in him, and the other sect was the proud chiefs (al-mustakbirūn). The rest of “those who were considered weak” (al-mustaḍʿafūn) were followers of their chiefs.
قالَ يا قَوْمِ لِمَ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ لَوْ لا تَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ ٤٦
(27:46) He said: O my people! Why do you seek to hasten (tastaʿjilūna, from istiʿjāl) on the evil before the good? Why do you not ask forgiveness of Allah so that you may be dealt with mercifully?
What is meant by “istiʿjāl of evil before the good” is that they were eagerly asking for punishment instead of mercy [based on the verbal pattern istifʿāl]. The subsequent part of the verse explains this: “If you are indeed seeking the good instead of the evil, then you should know that the good [that is, God mercy] is the fruit of believing in Him and asking Him for forgiveness.” We can infer from Ṣāliḥ’s rebuke that he said this statement after they hamstrung the she-camel, where they told him: O Ṣāliḥ! Bring us what you threatened us with, if you are one of the messengers (). Hence, by saying, “Why do you not ask forgiveness of Allah so that you may be dealt with mercifully?” he urged them to believe and repent so that God may show mercy to them and lift from them the punishment that He had promised them—“a promise not to be belied” ().
قالُوا اطَّيَّرْنا بِكَ وَ بِمَنْ مَعَكَ قالَ طائِرُكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تُفْتَنُونَ ٤٧
(27:47) They said: We take for a bad omen (iṭṭayarnā, from taṭayyur) you and those with you. He said: Your bad omen (ṭāʾirukum) is with Allah; nay, you are a people who are tried.
Ṭaṭayyur means tashaʾʾum (interpreting something as a bad omen, ascribing misfortune to something, taking something to augur ill). This act was called taṭayyur (lit. “ascribing to birds”) because birds were frequently used in deducing such evil omens. Likewise, one’s share of evil and misfortune is called ṭāʾir (lit. “bird”).
… We take for a bad omen you and those who are with you…: They said this to Ṣāliḥ. That is: We consider you, the believers, and your followers to be bad luck because your rise with your call and their belief in you coincide with the difficulties and tribulations that have afflicted us. Thus we do not believe in you.
… He said: Your bad omen is with Allah; nay, you are a people who are tried: What he meant by “bad omen” is their share of evil and misfortune, which would be the punishment that they deserve because of their actions. That is in the hands of God alone [awaiting them while they are given respite].
That is why he then switched to saying: nay, you are a people who are tried. That is: You are being tested with good and evil, so that the believers may be distinguished from the disbelievers, and the obedient from the disobedient.
The meaning of the verse is: Ṣāliḥ’s people told him, “We consider you and those who are with you to be bad luck. That is why we do not believe in you and we do not ask God for forgiveness.” Ṣāliḥ replied, “Your omen that bears your share of evil is with God, and that is your book of deeds. Neither I nor those who are with me have any control over you so that we may bring about these tribulations upon you. Rather, you are a people who are being tried and tested by these matters, so that those who are obedient believers may be set apart from those who are disobedient unbelievers.”
Some exegetes have said: A ṭāʾir is any source of good or evil that reaches a person. In the past, they used birds not only to read evil omens, but also to read good omens. Therefore, ṭāʾir is anything that harbingers either good or evil for the person, as seen in God’s Book: And We have made every man’s bird of omen (ṭāʾirah) cling to his neck, and We will bring forth a book to him on the Day of Resurrection (). But we also know that any good or evil that faces humankind is by God’s decree and is [eternally] written in a book. Therefore, ṭāʾir is the same as the Guarded Book [that is, the Guarded Tablet, al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ] which includes whatever has been ordained for humankind.
The problem with this view is that the verse in Sūrah al-Isrāʾ shows that what is meant by ṭāʾir is the book of deeds, not the book of decree, because the verse says: Read your book; your own self is sufficient as a reckoner against you this day ().
Some have suggested that “you are a people who are tried (tuftanūna)” means “you are being punished (tuʿadhdhibūna).” However, our suggested interpretation above is more plausible.
وَ كانَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ تِسْعَةُ رَهْطٍ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَ لا يُصْلِحُونَ ٤٨
(27:48) And there were in the city nine persons (rahṭ) who made mischief in the land and did not act aright.
Al-Rāghib says, “Rahṭ is a group of people fewer than ten, but it has also been defined as extending up to forty.” Others have said that the difference between rahṭ and nafar is that the former is between three and seven—or ten—individuals, while the latter is between three and nine.
Others have said: Rahṭ here means ashkhāṣ (persons, in plural). Its plural meaning matches its role as a tamyīz (specification, distinguishing qualifier) for the number nine [which is also plural]. It means that those who made a pledge with each other were nine men.
قالُوا تَقاسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُ وَ أَهْلَهُ ثُمَّ لَنَقُولَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهِ ما شَهِدْنا مَهْلِكَ أَهْلِهِ وَ إِنَّا لَصادِقُونَ ٤٩
(27:49) They said: Swear to each other (taqāsamū) by Allah that we will certainly make a sudden attack on him and his family (ahlahu) by night (la-nubayitannahu, from tabyīt), then we will say to his heir: We did not witness the destruction of his family, and we are most surely truthful.
Taqāsum means “to vow mutually.” Tabyīt is “to harm someone at night.” The ahl of someone are “those who share the same house, lineage or religion with him.” Perhaps what is meant by ahl here is his wife and children, as evidenced by what follows: then we will say to his heir…
… and we are most surely truthful: The conjunction “and” shows that this sentence adds to: We did not witness… Therefore, it is a continuation of what they would say [to his heir].
The meaning is: The mischievous group vowed by God with each other and said, “We will certainly kill him and his family at night. Then, when his heir comes after us and asks for his blood-money, we will tell him, ‘We did not witness the death of his family, and surely we are truthful in what we are telling you.”’
As some exegetes have pointed out, saying that “we did not witness the death of his family” entails, by necessity or by priority, that “we did not witness his death either.”
Some have said: The conjunction “and” in “and we are most surely truthful” is ḥāliyyah, which means: “We will truthfully tell this to his heir. It is the truth because we did not witness the destruction of his family alone, but we witnessed the destruction of him and his family together.”
However, this interpretation is clearly contrived. Others have suggested more contrived interpretations to justify the last piece as describing their state of speaking (being ḥāliyyah), but there is no need to hold such an interpretation.
وَ مَكَرُوا مَكْراً وَ مَكَرْنا مَكْراً وَ هُمْ لا يَشْعُرُونَ ٥٠
(27:50) And they plotted a plot, and We plotted a plot while they perceived not.
Their plot was their mutual agreement and pledge to attack him and his family, as seen in the previous verse. God’s plot was His decree of their destruction, as seen in the next verse.
فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ كانَ عاقِبَةُ مَكْرِهِمْ أَنَّا دَمَّرْناهُمْ وَ قَوْمَهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ٥١
(27:51) See, then, how was the end of their plot—We destroyed them (dammarnāhum, from tadmīr) and their people, all (of them).
Tadmīr is “to destroy, to obliterate.” The plural pronouns refer to rahṭ (lit. group, family, tribe) [mentioned in verse ]. The destruction of them and their people is described as “the end of their plot” in the sense that their plot called for God’s plot as punishment, which in turn resulted in the destruction of them and their people.
فَتِلْكَ بُيُوتُهُمْ خاوِيَةً بِما ظَلَمُوا إِنَّ فِي ذلِكَ لَآيَةً لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ ٥٢
(27:52) So those are their houses fallen down (khāwiyah) because they were unjust. Most surely there is a sign in this for a people who know.
Khāwiyah means khāliyah (empty, vacant). It is derived from khawāʾ, which means khalāʾ (hollow, empty). The rest of the verse is clear.
وَ أَنْجَيْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَ كانُوا يَتَّقُونَ ٥٣
(27:53) And We delivered those who believed and who guarded (against evil) (kānū yattaqūna, from taqwā).
This verse involves good news for the believers, saying that they will be delivered. The verse follows that by adding “and who guarded (against evil)” because taqwā serves as a shield for īmān (belief, faith). God says: And the end is for those who guard (against evil) (); And the (good) end is for guarding (against evil) ().