وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَٰلِحًا قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ هُوَ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱسْتَعْمَرَكُمْ فِيهَا فَٱسْتَغْفِرُوهُ ثُمَّ تُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ رَبِّى قَرِيبٌ مُّجِيبٌ
wa ilā Thamūda akhāhum Ṣāliḥā, qāla yā qawmi'ʿbudū'llāha mā lakum min ilāhin ghayruh, huwa anshaʾakum mina'l-arḍi wa'staʿmarakum fīhā fa'staghfirūhu thumma tūbū ilayh, inna rabbī qarībun mujīb
"And to Thamūd [We sent] their brother Ṣāliḥ. He said: 'My people! Serve God; you have no god but Him. It is He who brought you into being from the earth and set you to work its cultivation. So ask forgiveness of Him, then turn back to Him. My Lord is indeed near, and He answers.'"
The root ع-م-ر. The root has occurred in several places across this series (al-Rūm, Yāsīn, al-Ṭūr) but this derivative is being worked out here for the first time.
The concrete core of the root is given by the lexicographers in two directions, and the two come out at the same place:
| Direction | Sense |
|---|---|
| Time | To live long, to have a span of life — ʿumur, ʿumr |
| Place | To make a place thrive, to build it up — ʿimāra, maʿmūr |
The lexicographers join the two directions thus: for a place to be maʿmūr is for life to continue there. An empty place is kharāb; a place lived in is ʿāmir. The sense of place, that is, is a consequence of the sense of time.
| Derivative | Sense |
|---|---|
| عُمْر / عَمْر | A lifetime, a span of life |
| عِمَارَة | Making a place thrive; a building |
| مَعْمُور | Made to thrive, lived in |
| عَمَّرَ | He gave long life; or he built up |
| ٱعْتَمَرَ | He visited — ʿumra comes from here |
| ٱسْتَعْمَرَ | The verb here — Form X |
And that the word ʿumra is from the same root is worth recording: the lexicographers attach it to the sense of making a place thrive by visiting it.
| Function | Example | Its fit here |
|---|---|---|
| 1. To seek | istaghfara — he sought forgiveness | "He asked you to cultivate it" |
| 2. To find or count a thing so | istaḥsana — he found it beautiful | Does not fit here |
| 3. To set someone to a task, to appoint him | istaʿmala — he set someone to a work | "He set you to its cultivation" |
The renderings given in the classical sources for the verb istaʿmara in the verse rest on the first and the third of these functions. I give them in a table:
| Reading | Sense |
|---|---|
| 1 | "He appointed you to cultivate it" — the cultivation is given as a task |
| 2 | "He settled you there, He made you dwell in it" — the sense of settlement |
| 3 | "He gave you long life there" — the sense of time |
| 4 | "He asked you to cultivate it" — the sense of request |
All four readings are transmitted in the classical sources; I do not impose a preference. But what the four have in common must be recorded: in every one of them a lasting relationship is set up between the human being and the ground.
And the word order of the verse must be recorded: two verbs come one after the other, and in both the subject is God and the object is the human being.
| Verb | What it gives | From where / where |
|---|---|---|
| anshaʾakum | Existence | mina'l-arḍ — from the earth |
| istaʿmarakum | A task / a span | fīhā — in it |
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the opposition of the two particles: the human being is named both as the product of the same thing (mina'l-arḍ) and as the one charged with it (fīhā). The sentence, that is, does not leave the relation with the ground running one way only: the place taken from is the place worked.
The root ن-ش-أ: the gradual coming into being of a thing, its rising. The root was treated at al-Najm 53/32 and al-ʿAnkabūt 29/20 (thumma'llāhu yunshiʾu'l-nashʾata'l-ākhira).
The word has acquired a political sense in present-day Arabic, and I cite it as a note about the language: in modern Arabic istiʿmār is used for colonialism. This is a use the word acquired later and it has nothing to do with the meaning of the verse.
I record it explicitly, per the method (Method): the verse is not speaking of a political concept; and this commentary does not enter into current politics. What is recorded is the idea in the root of the word: making a place fit to be lived in.
And the relation the verse sets up is, as my own reading, this: the earth is given to the human being not as a possession but as a work. And the ground for this is that the verb is in Form X — the third function of the form (setting someone to a task) supports this reading. This is an explanation and it is not binding.
And the coming together of the two names is worth recording: qarīb reports distance, mujīb reports response.
I record this as an observation: the sentence comes immediately after a command to ask forgiveness. The nearness, that is, is placed there as the ground for the call's not going unanswered. At al-Baqara 2/186 (fa-innī qarīb, ujību daʿwata'l-dāʿ) the same two roots occur together.