The Poets — Verse 190

The Response of Shu`ayb's People, Their Disbelief in Him and the coming of the Punishment upon Them Allah tells us how his people responded, and how it was like the response of Thamud to their Messenger -- for they were of like mind -- when they said: إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مِنَ الْمُسَحَّرِينَ (You are only one of those bewitched!) meaning, `you are one of those who are affected by witchcraft.' وَمَآ أَنتَ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا وَإِن نَّظُنُّكَ لَمِنَ الْكَـذِبِينَ (You are but a human being like us and verily, we think that you are one of the liars!) means, `we think you are deliberately lying to us in what you say, and Allah has not sent you to us.' فَأَسْقِطْ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفاً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ (So cause a piece of the heaven to fall on us,) Ad-Dahhak said: "One side of the heavens." Qatadah said: "A piece of the heaven." As-Suddi said: "A punishment from heaven." This is like what the Quraysh said, as Allah tells us: وَقَالُواْ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّى تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الاٌّرْضِ يَنْبُوعًا (And they say: "We shall not believe in you, until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us) until: أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّمَآءَ كَمَا زَعَمْتَ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا أَوْ تَأْتِىَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَـئِكَةِ قَبِيلاً (Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you have pretended, or you bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face.") (17:90-92) وَإِذْ قَالُواْ اللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَـذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ (And (remember) when they said: "O Allah! If this is indeed the truth from You, then rain down stones on us from the sky....") (8:32). Similarly, these ignorant disbelievers said: فَأَسْقِطْ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفاً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ (So, cause a piece of the heaven to fall on us, if you are of the truthful!) قَالَ رَبِّى أَعْلَمُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ (He said: "My Lord is the Best Knower of what you do.") means, `Allah knows best about you, and if you deserve that, He will punish you therewith, and He will not treat you unjustly.' So this is what happened to them -- as they asked for -- an exact recompense. Allah says: فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَأَخَذَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمِ الظُّلَّةِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (But they denied him, so the torment of the Day of Shadow seized them. Indeed that was the torment of a Great Day.) This is what they asked for, when they asked for a part of the heaven to fall upon them. Allah made their punishment in the form of intense heat which overwhelmed them for seven days, and nothing could protect them from it. Then He sent a cloud to shade them, so they ran towards it to seek its shade from the heat. When all of them had gathered underneath it, Allah sent sparks of fire and flames and intense heat upon them, and caused the earth to convulse beneath them, and He sent against them a mighty Sayhah which destroyed their souls. Allah says: إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (Indeed that was the torment of a Great Day.) Allah has mentioned how they were destroyed in three places in the Qur'an, in each of which it is described in a manner which fits the context. In Surat Al-A`raf He says that the earthquake seized them, and they lay (dead), prostrate in their homes. This was because they said: لَنُخْرِجَنَّكَ يـشُعَيْبُ وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مَعَكَ مِن قَرْيَتِنَآ أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ فِي مِلَّتِنَا ("We shall certainly drive you out, O Shu`ayb, and those who have believed with you from our town, or else you (all) shall return to our religion.") (7:88). They had sought to scare the Prophet of Allah and those who followed him, so they were seized by the earthquake. In Surah Hud, Allah says: وَأَخَذَتِ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ الصَّيْحَةُ (And As-Sayhah seized the wrongdoers) (11:94). This was because they mocked the Allah's Prophet when they said: أَصَلَوَتُكَ تَأْمُرُكَ أَن نَّتْرُكَ مَا يَعْبُدُ ءابَاؤُنَآ أَوْ أَن نَّفْعَلَ فِى أَمْوَالِنَا مَا نَشَؤُا إِنَّكَ لاّنتَ الْحَلِيمُ الرَّشِيدُ ("Does your Salah command that we give up what our fathers used to worship, or that we give up doing what we like with our property Verily, you are the forbearer, right-minded!") (11:87). They had said this in a mocking, sarcastic tone, so it was befitting that the Sayhah should come and silence them, as Allah says: فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ (So As-Saihah overtook them) (15:73). وَأَخَذَتِ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ الصَّيْحَةُ (And As-Saihah seized the wrongdoers) (11:94). And here, they said: فَأَسْقِطْ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفاً مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ (So, cause a piece of the heaven to fall on us,) in a stubborn and obstinate manner. So, it was fitting that something they never thought would happen should befall them: فَأَخَذَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمِ الظُّلَّةِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ (so the torment of the Day of Shadow seized them. Indeed that was the torment of a Great Day.) Muhammad bin Jarir narrated from Yazid Al-Bahili: "I asked Ibn `Abbas about this Ayah: فَأَخَذَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمِ الظُّلَّةِ (so the torment of the Day of Shadow seized them. ) He said: `Allah sent upon them thunder and intense heat, and it terrified them so they entered their houses and it pursued them to the innermost parts of their houses and terrified them further, and they ran fleeing from their houses into the fields. Then Allah sent upon them clouds which shaded them from the sun, and they found it cool and pleasant, so they called out to one another until they had all gathered beneath the cloud, then Allah sent fire upon them.' Ibn `Abbas said, `That was the torment of the Day of Shadow, indeed that was the torment of a Great Day."' إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لأَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُّؤْمِنِينَ - وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ (Verily, in this is an Ayah, yet most of them are not believers. And verily, your Lord, He is truly, the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful.) (26:8-9) meaning, He is All-Mighty in His punishment of the disbelievers, and Most Merciful towards His believing servants.

Surely in that there is a sign; but most of them are not believers.

إن في ذلك العقاب الذي نزل بهم، لَدلالة واضحة على قدرة الله في مؤاخذة المكذبين، وعبرة لمن يعتبر، وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين متعظين بذلك.

"إن في ذلك لآية وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين وإن ربك لهو العزيز الرحيم" أي العزيز في انتقامه من الكافرين الرحيم بعباده المؤمنين.

ثم ختم - سبحانه - قصة شعيب مع قومه بمثل ما ختم به قصص الرسل السابقين مع أقوامهم فقال - تعالى - : ( إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ العزيز الرحيم ) .وإلى هنا ترى سورة الشعراء قد ساقت لنا سبع قصص من قصص الأنبياء مع أقوامهم .ساقت لنا قصة موسى ، فإبراهيم ، فنوح . فهود ، فصالح ، فلوط ، فشعيب - عليهم جميعا الصلاة والسلام - .ويلاحظ فى قصص هذه السورة ، أنها لم تجىء على حسب الترتيب الزمنى - كما هو الشأن فى سورة الأعراف - وذلك لأن المقصود الأعظم هنا هو الاعتبار والاتعاظ ، فأما فى سورة الأعراف ، فكان التسلسل الزمنى مقصودا لعرض أحوال الناس منذ آدم - عليه السلام - .كما يلاحظ أن معظم القصص هنا ، قد افتتح بافتتاح متشابه ، وهو أمر كل نبى قومه بتقوى الله ، وببيان أنه رسول أمين . وببيان أنه لا يطلب من قومه أجرا على دعوته ، نرى ذلك واضحا فى قصة نوح وهود وصالح وشعيب ولوط مع أقوامهم .ولعل السر فى ذلك التأكيد على أن الرسل جميعا قد جاؤوا برسالة واحدة فى أصولها وأسسها ، ألا وهى الدعوة إلى إخلاص العبادة لله - تعالى - ، وإلى مكارم الأخلاق .كما يلاحظ - أيضا - أن كل قصة من تلك القصص قد اختتمت بقوله - تعالى - : ( إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ العزيز الرحيم ) .ولعل السر فى ذلك تكرار التسلية للنبى صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وتثبيت فؤاده . وبيان أن ما أصابه من قومه ، قد أصاب الرسل السابقين ، فعليه أن يصبر كما صبروا ، وقد قالوا : " المصيبة إذا عمت خفت " .كما يلاحظ - كذلك - على قصص هذى السورة التركيز على أهم الأحداث وبيان الرذائل التى انغمس فيها أولئك الأقوام ، باستثناء قصة موسى - عليه السلام - مع فرعون فقد جاءت بشىء من التفصيل .

يقول تعالى ذكره: إن في تعذيبنا قوم شعيب عذاب يوم الظلة, بتكذيبهم نبيهم شعيبا, لآية لقومك يا محمد, وعبرة لمن اعتبر, إن اعتبروا أن سنتنا فيهم بتكذيبهم إياك, سنتنا في أصحاب الأيكة.( وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ )في سابق علمنا فيهم .

"إن في ذلك لآية وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين".

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (190) أي في ذلك آية لكفار قريش إذ كان حالهم كحال أصحاب لَيْكة فقد كانوا من المطففين مع الإشراك قال تعالى : { ويل للمطففين } إلى قوله : { ليوم عظيم } [ المطففين : 1 5 ] . وقد تقدم القول في نظائره . وقد ذكرنا في طالعة هذه السورة ( 8 ) وجه تكرير آية { إن في ذلك لآية . }

إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَةً دالة على صدق شعيب, وصحة ما دعا إليه, وبطلان رد قومه عليه، وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ مع رؤيتهم الآيات, لأنهم لا زكاء فيهم, ولا خير لديهم وَمَا أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ .

إن في ذلك لآية وما كان أكثرهم مؤمنين قيل : آمن بشعيب من الفئتين تسعمائة نفر .

Shu‘ayb’s community had so much faith in the righteousness of their forefathers’ ways that the prophet’s sayings seemed perverse and absurd. They said that somebody might well have cast a magic spell on him to make him talk the way he did. They challenged Shu‘ayb to bring down the punishment of the skies, if what he said were true. They did this to deride Shu‘ayb, feeling that the punishment would certainly not descend because of him. The insolence of this community invited the direct wrath of God, as a vast cloud plunged them in gloom and a raging fire enveloped them, wiping out even the smallest trace of the community.

فَأَخَذَهُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمِ الظُّلَّةِ so they were seized by the torment of the Day of Canopy. - 26:189 عَذَابُ يَوْمِ الظُّلَّةِ (the Torment of the Canopy), mentioned in this verse refers to an incident, which is this: Allah Ta’ ala sent down such an extreme heat on a people that they could not find comfort either inside the houses or outside. Then He sent down a mass of dark cloud over a nearby forest, under which there was a cool breeze. As the entire people were distressed due to excessive heat, they ran to take shelter under the cloud. When all of them assembled under the cover of the cloud, it rained fire instead of water. Thus the whole nation was burnt to ashes. (Ruh al-Ma’ ani)

(Lo! Herein) in that which We did to them (is indeed a portent) a sign and an admonition for those who came after them; (yet most of them are not believers) they were not believers and most of them were disbelievers.