كَذَّبَ أَصْحَٰبُ لْـَٔيْكَةِ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ · إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ شُعَيْبٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ · إِنِّى لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌ · فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ · وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
Kadhdhaba aṣḥābu'l-Aykati'l-mursalīn · Idh qāla lahum Shuʿaybun alā tattaqūn · Innī lakum rasūlun amīn · Fa'ttaqū'llāha wa aṭīʿūn · Wa mā asʾalukum ʿalayhi min ajrin; in ajriya illā ʿalā rabbi'l-ʿālamīn
"The people of al-Ayka too denied the messengers. · When Shuʿayb said to them: 'Will you not guard yourselves? · I am a trustworthy messenger sent to you. · So guard yourselves against God and obey me. · I ask you no wage for it; my wage falls only upon the Lord of all the worlds.'"
These five verses are the fifth and last repetition of the sūra's shared mould — and here the mould breaks in two places.
| Break | The others | Here |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | Kadhdhabat (feminine) | Kadhdhaba (masculine) |
| Attribution | Akhūhum … ("their brother") | absent — only Shuʿaybun |
The reason for these two breaks and their connection with each other were treated in Table 2 of the section "The backbone of the sūra"; I do not repeat it. Its summary: those addressed are named not by a lineage but by a place (aṣḥābu'l-Ayka), and aṣḥāb is a masculine plural.
The word occurs in four places in the Qurʾān (al-Ḥijr 15/78; al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/176; Ṣād 38/13; Qāf 50/14) and was mentioned in Ṣād and Qāf.
And the people of Shuʿayb are named in the Qurʾān by two different names, and this must be recorded:
| Name | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Midian | Al-Aʿrāf 7/85; Hūd 11/84; al-ʿAnkabūt 29/36 | The name of a people / a town — akhūhum Shuʿayb is said |
| Aṣḥābu'l-Ayka | Al-Ḥijr 15/78; al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/176; Ṣād 38/13; Qāf 50/14 | A place name — akhūhum is not said |
And what the table shows is an order that can be verified from the text: where the Qurʾān says Midian it says akhūhum Shuʿayb; where it says al-Ayka it does not.
Whether these two are the same community or two different ones has been disputed. I give the transmitted views in a table; I do not impose a preference:
| View | Ground | Its weak side |
|---|---|---|
| The same community, two names | In both places there is the same prophet (Shuʿayb) and the same subject (measure and weight) | The difference over akhūhum has to be explained |
| Two different communities, the same prophet | The Qurʾān's not saying akhūhum is counted a mark of distinction; the manners of destruction are also recounted differently (ṣayḥa / rajfa — Midian; yawmu'ẓ-ẓulla — al-Ayka) | The Qurʾān does not openly say that they are two different communities |
And as was recorded at Ṣād 38/13, there aṣḥābu'l-Ayka is named in a series of destroyed communities and it is said ulāʾika'l-aḥzāb. I rely on the note there.