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Ayah
Word by Word
وَإِلَىٰ
And to
مَدۡيَنَ
Madyan
أَخَاهُمۡ
their brother
شُعَيۡبٗا
Shuaib
فَقَالَ
And he said
يَٰقَوۡمِ
O my people!
ٱعۡبُدُواْ
Worship
ٱللَّهَ
Allah
وَٱرۡجُواْ
and expect
ٱلۡيَوۡمَ
the Day
ٱلۡأٓخِرَ
the Last
وَلَا
and (do) not
تَعۡثَوۡاْ
commit evil
فِي
in
ٱلۡأَرۡضِ
the earth
مُفۡسِدِينَ
(as) corrupters
وَإِلَىٰ
And to
مَدۡيَنَ
Madyan
أَخَاهُمۡ
their brother
شُعَيۡبٗا
Shuaib
فَقَالَ
And he said
يَٰقَوۡمِ
O my people!
ٱعۡبُدُواْ
Worship
ٱللَّهَ
Allah
وَٱرۡجُواْ
and expect
ٱلۡيَوۡمَ
the Day
ٱلۡأٓخِرَ
the Last
وَلَا
and (do) not
تَعۡثَوۡاْ
commit evil
فِي
in
ٱلۡأَرۡضِ
the earth
مُفۡسِدِينَ
(as) corrupters
Translation
And to Madyan [We sent] their brother Shuʿayb, and he said, "O my people, worship Allāh and expect the Last Day and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption."
Tafsir
And, We sent, to Midian, their brother Shu'ayibn He said, 'O my people! Worship God and anticipate the Last Day, fear it, namely, the Day of Resurrection; and do not be degenerate in the earth, working corruption' (mufsideena is a circumstantial qualifier, emphasising its operator [wa-laa ta'thaw, 'do not be degenerate']; it [the verb] derives from 'athiya, meaning afsada, 'he corrupted').
Shu`ayb and His People
Allah tells:
وَإِلَى مَدْيَنَ أَخَاهُمْ شُعَيْبًا فَقَالَ
And to Madyan, We sent their brother Shu`ayb. He said:
Allah tells us that His servant and Messenger Shu`ayb, peace be upon him, warned his people, the people of Madyan, and commanded them to worship Allah Alone with no partner or associate, and to fear the wrath and punishment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection.
He said:
يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَارْجُوا الْيَوْمَ الاْاخِرَ
O my people! Worship Allah and hope for the last Day,
Ibn Jarir said:
Some of them said that this meant:Fear the Last Day.
This is like the Ayah,
لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الاٌّخِرَ
for those who look forward to (meeting with) Allah and the Last Day. (60:6)
وَلَا تَعْثَوْا فِي الاَْرْضِ مُفْسِدِينَ
and commit no mischief on the earth as mischief-makers.
This is forbidding them to make mischief on earth by spreading corruption, which means going around doing evil to people. They used to cheat in weights and measures, and ambush people on the road; this is in addition to their disbelief in Allah and His Messenger. So Allah destroyed them with a mighty earthquake that convulsed their land, and the Sayhah (shout) which tore their hearts from their bodies, and the torment of the Day of Shade, when their souls were taken. This was the torment of a great day.
We have already examined their story in detail in Surah Al-A`raf, Surah Hud and Surah Ash-Shu`ara'
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةُ
And they denied him; so the earthquake seized them,
فَأَصْبَحُوا فِي دَارِهِمْ جَاثِمِينَ
and they lay, prostrate in their dwellings.
Qatadah said, They were dead.
Others said that they were thrown on top of one another
The Destruction of Nations Who rejected Their Messengers
Allah tells:
وَعَادًا وَثَمُودَ وَقَد تَّبَيَّنَ لَكُم مِّن مَّسَاكِنِهِمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَصَدَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّبِيلِ وَكَانُوا مُسْتَبْصِرِينَ
وَقَارُونَ وَفِرْعَوْنَ وَهَامَانَ وَلَقَدْ جَاءهُم مُّوسَى بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الاَْرْضِ وَمَا كَانُوا سَابِقِينَ
And `Ad and Thamud! And indeed (their destruction) is clearly apparent to you from their (ruined) dwellings. Shaytan made their deeds fair seeming to them, and turned them away from the path, though they were intelligent.
And Qarun, Fir`awn, and Haman.
And indeed Musa came to them with clear Ayat, but they were arrogant in the land, yet they could not outstrip Us.
Allah tells us about these nations who disbelieved in their Messengers, and how He destroyed them and sent various kinds of punishments and vengeance upon them.
`Ad, the people of Hud, peace be upon him, used to live in the Ahqaf (curved sand-hills), near Hadramawt, in the Yemen.
Thamud, the people of Salih, lived in Al-Hijr, near Wadi Al-Qura. The Arabs used to know their dwelling place very well, and they often used to pass by it.
Qarun was the owner of great wealth and had the keys to immense treasures.
Fir`awn, the king of Egypt at the time of Musa, and his minister Haman were two Coptics who disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him.
Allah tells
فَكُلًّ أَخَذْنَا بِذَنبِهِ
So, We punished each for his sins,
their punishments fit their crimes.
فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِ حَاصِبًا
.
of them were some on whom We sent a Hasib,
This was the case with `Ad, and this happened because they said:Who is stronger than us! So, there came upon them a violent, intensely cold wind, which was very strong and carried pebbles which it threw upon them. It carried them through the air, lifting a man up to the sky and then hurling him headlong to the ground, so that his head split and he was left as a body without a head, like uprooted stems of date palms.
وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَخَذَتْهُ الصَّيْحَةُ
and of them were some who were overtaken by As-Sayhah,
This is what happened to Thamud, against whom evidence was established because of the she-camel who came forth when the rock was split, exactly as they had asked for. Yet despite that they did not believe, rather they persisted in their evil behavior and disbelief, and threatening to expel Allah's Prophet Salih and the believers with him, or to stone them. So the Sayhah struck them, taking away their powers of speech and movement.
وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ خَسَفْنَا بِهِ الاَْرْضَ
and of them were some whom We caused the earth to swallow,
This refers to Qarun who transgressed, he was evil and arrogant. He disobeyed his Lord, the Most High, and paraded through the land in a boastful manner, filled with self-admiration, thinking that he was better than others. He showed off as he walked, so Allah caused the earth to swallow him and his house, and he will continue sinking into it until the Day of Resurrection.
وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ أَغْرَقْنَا
and of them were some whom We drowned.
This refers to Fir`awn, his minister Haman and their troops, all of whom were drowned in a single morning, not one of them escaped.
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ
It was not Allah Who wronged them,
in what He did to them,
وَلَكِن كَانُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ
but they wronged themselves.
that happened to them as a punishment for what they did with their own hands.
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