In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Compendium of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.
Abridged by Dr. 'Aqil ibn Salim al-Shammari.
Surah al-Shu'ara'.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“Give full measure, and be not of those who give less (than the due).” (26:181)
◁And weigh with an even balance,▷
◁and do not deprive people of their due,▷
◁and do not spread corruption on the earth.▷
“And keep your duty unto Him Who created you and the generations of the men of old.” (26:184)
Give people their full and just measure;
and do not be among those who diminish others' rightful dues.
And weigh with a straight and just balance that does not defraud anyone for whom you weigh,
and do not cheat people of their dues in measure or weight,
nor spread corruption rampantly across the land.
And fear, O people, the punishment of your Lord Who created you and created the earlier generations.
◁They said, "You are only one of the bewitched;▷
“Thou art but a mortal like us, and lo! we deem thee of the liars.” (26:186)
“Then make fragments of the heaven fall upon us, if thou art of the truthful.” (26:187)
They said: You are merely a person deceived, O Shu'ayb,
nourished and sustained by food and drink just as we are nourished by them,
and you are not an angel.
You are nothing more than a human being like us, eating and drinking,
and we do not consider you, in what you inform us of and call us to,
anything but one of those who lie in what they say.
So if you are truthful in what you claim—that you are Allah's messenger, as you allege—
then cause fragments of the sky to fall down upon us.
“He said: My Lord is Best Aware of what ye do.” (26:188)
“But they denied him, so there came on them the retribution of the day of gloom. Lo! it was the retribution of an awful day.” (26:189)
“But they denied him, so there came on them the retribution of the day of gloom. Lo! it was the retribution of an awful day.” (26:189)
Shu'ayb said to his people:
“He said: My Lord is Best Aware of what ye do.” (26:188)
He fully encompasses all your deeds,
and He will requite you for them.
Yet his people denied him,
“But they denied him, so there came on them the retribution of the day of gloom. Lo! it was the retribution of an awful day.” (26:189)
which was a cloud that shaded them;
and when they all gathered beneath it,
it burst into flames over them and consumed them.
Indeed, the punishment of the Day of the Shadow was the torment of an awful day.
Consequently, most of them were not believers.
And indeed, your Lord is the Almighty, the Merciful.
Indeed, in Our punishment of the people of Shu'ayb
there is surely a sign for your people, O Muhammad.
And most of them were not believers, according to Our prior knowledge concerning them.
And indeed, your Lord, O Muhammad, is the Almighty in His vengeance
upon those of His enemies whom He punishes,
and the Merciful toward those of His creation who repent.
“And lo! it is a revelation of the Lord of the Worlds,” (26:192)
“Which the True Spirit hath brought down” (26:193)
“Upon thy heart, that thou mayst be (one) of the warners,” (26:194)
◁in a clear Arabic tongue.▷
“And lo! it is in the Scriptures of the men of old.” (26:196)
And indeed, this Qur'an is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.
The Trustworthy Spirit, Gabriel, brought it down,
and recited it to you, O Muhammad, until your heart took it firmly in,
so that you might be among Allah's messengers who warn those of their people to whom they were sent,
and so that you might warn your people in an Arabic tongue
that makes it clear to anyone who hears it that it is indeed Arabic.
And indeed, this Qur'an was mentioned in the scriptures of earlier peoples.
“Is it not a token for them that the doctors of the Children of Israel know it?” (26:197)
Was it not sufficient proof for these people who turn away from what comes to you, O Muhammad, of your Lord's remembrance,
indicating that you are truly the messenger of the Lord of the worlds,
that the scholars of the Children of Israel already know its truth and authenticity?
“And if We had revealed it unto one of any other nation than the Arabs,” (26:198)
“And he had read it unto them, they would not have believed in it.” (26:199)
And even if We had revealed this Qur'an to one of the non-Arabs who could not speak,
and he had recited this Qur'an to the disbelievers among your people, O Muhammad,
they still would not have believed in it,
because of the misery previously decreed for them in divine foreknowledge.
This was solace from Allah to His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) concerning his people,
so that his grief would not intensify over their turning away from him
and their refusal to listen to this Qur'an.
“Thus do We make it traverse the hearts of the guilty.” (26:200)
“They will not believe in it till they behold the painful doom,” (26:201)
“So that it will come upon them suddenly, when they perceive not.” (26:202)
“Then they will say: Are we to be reprieved?” (26:203)
Thus did We instill denial and disbelief into the hearts of the criminals;
We did that to them so they would not believe in this Qur'an
until they see the painful punishment in this present life,
just as those nations whose stories Allah related in this Surah saw it.
Thus, the painful punishment will overtake these deniers of the Qur'an suddenly,
while they are entirely unaware of its coming beforehand,
until it catches them unawares.
Then they will say, "Will our punishment be deferred,
and our lifespans extended so that we may repent?"
◁Do they really seek to hasten Our punishment?▷
“Hast thou then seen, if We content them for (long) years,” (26:205)
“And then cometh that which they were promised,” (26:206)
“(How) that wherewith they were contented naught availeth them?” (26:207)
Do these polytheists really seek to hasten Our punishment,
by saying: "We will not believe you until you make the sky fall down upon us in pieces, as you have claimed"?
“Hast thou then seen, if We content them for (long) years,” (26:205)
Then, when the punishment they were promised arrives on account of their disbelief in Our signs and their rejection of Our Messenger,
of what avail to them will be the delay We granted in their lifespans,
and the worldly pleasures with which We let them enjoy this life,
seeing that they did not repent of their polytheism?
Did Our letting them enjoy life benefit them in the least?
Rather, it only harmed them by increasing their burden of sins.
“And We destroyed no township but it had its warners” (26:208)
“For reminder, for We never were oppressors.” (26:209)
And We never destroyed any town among those described in these Surahs
except after sending messengers to warn them of Our wrath,
as a reminder to them and an admonition pointing toward that which contained their salvation from Our punishment.
And We were never unjust in destroying them.
“The devils did not bring it down.” (26:210)
“It is not meet for them, nor is it in their power,” (26:211)
“Lo! verily they are banished from the hearing.” (26:212)
The devils did not bring this Qur'an down to Muhammad,
nor is it fitting for the devils to descend with it upon him,
nor are they ever capable of bringing it down.
Indeed, the devils are strictly barred from overhearing the Qur'an in the realm of heaven where it is kept;
how then could they ever be capable of bringing it down?
“Therefor invoke not with Allah another god, lest thou be one of the doomed.” (26:213)
So do not invoke, O Muhammad, any deity alongside Allah,
lest there befall you of punishment what befell those who disobeyed Our command and worshipped others beside Us.
◁And warn your nearest kinsfolk,▷
“And lower thy wing (in kindness) unto those believers who follow thee.” (26:215)
“And if they (thy kinsfolk) disobey thee, say: Lo! I am innocent of what they do.” (26:216)
And warn your kinsfolk from among your people who are closest to you in relation,
and caution them against Our punishment;
and lower your wing in gentleness and kind speech to those believers who follow you.
But if your closest kinsfolk disobey you, O Muhammad,
then say to them: "I am innocent of the idolatry you practice."
“And put thy trust in the Mighty, the Merciful.” (26:217)
“Who seeth thee when thou standest up (to pray)” (26:218)
◁and your movement among those who prostrate.▷
◁Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.▷
And rely upon the Almighty in His retribution against His enemies,
the Merciful to those who turn to Him in repentance and abandon their sins,
Who sees you when you stand in prayer,
and sees your movement among those who follow your lead in prayer, through standing, bowing, prostrating, and sitting.
Indeed, your Lord is the All-Hearing of your recitation, O Muhammad, and your remembrance during your prayer,
the All-Knowing of what you do in it, and of what those moving along with you do.
So recite the Qur'an with measured care in it and observe its proper bounds,
for you are ever under your Lord's watchful sight and hearing.
“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend?” (26:221)
“They descend on every sinful, false one.” (26:222)
“They listen eagerly, but most of them are liars.” (26:223)
Shall I inform you, O people, upon whom the devils descend?
They descend upon every lying, slanderous, and sinful person.
The devils pass on what they hear,
which is what they eavesdropped upon when it was spoken in the heavens,
delivering it to every lying sinner among their human allies.
And most of those upon whom the devils descend
are liars in what they utter and report.
◁And as for the poets, it is the deviants who follow them.▷
◁Do you not see that they wander aimlessly in every valley,▷
“And how they say that which they do not?” (26:226)
◁except those who believe and do righteous deeds,▷
◁and remember Allah often,▷
◁and remember Allah often,▷
“Save those who believe and do good works, and remember Allah much, and vindicate themselves after they have been wronged. Those who do wrong will come to know by what a (great) reverse they will be overturned!” (26:227)
◁and the wrongdoers will soon come to know what kind of return they will have.▷
Indeed, the poets of the polytheists are followed by the misguided among mankind,
the rebellious devils, and the disobedient jinn.
Do you not see, O Muhammad, that the poets venture into every avenue of speech,
like someone wandering aimlessly with no set purpose,
swerving away from the truth and the path of right guidance?
For they praise a people falsely and satirize others with lies and slander,
except those who believe and do righteous deeds,
and remember Allah abundantly in their speech,
and defend themselves against the polytheist poets who satirized them unjustly,
responding to the insults that were directed at them.
And those who wronged themselves through their polytheism against Allah among the people of Mecca will soon come to know
what final destination they will return to,
and what ultimate abode they will reach after their deaths,
for they will end up in a Fire whose blaze is never extinguished and whose flames never subside.