al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:185-191

Qālū innamā anta mina'l-musaḥḥarīn · Wa mā anta illā basharun mithlunā wa in naẓunnuka la-mina'l-kādhibīn · Fa-asqiṭ ʿalaynā kisafan mina's-samāʾi in kunta mina'ṣ-ṣādiqīn · Qāla rabbī aʿlamu bimā taʿmalūn · Fa-kadhdhabūhu fa-akhadhahum ʿadhābu yawmi'ẓ-ẓulla; innahu kāna ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīm · Inna fī dhālika la-āyatan wa mā kāna aktharuhum muʾminīn · Wa inna rabbaka la-huwa'l-ʿazīzu'r-raḥīm

"They said: 'You are only one of the bewitched. · You are nothing but a mortal like us; and we think you are one of the liars. · Drop fragments of the sky upon us, if you are one of the truthful!' · He said: 'My Lord knows best what you do.' · They denied him, and thereupon the punishment of the day of the shadow seized them. It was indeed the punishment of a great day.' · In this there is surely a sign; but most of them were not believers. · And your Lord — He indeed — is the Mighty, the Merciful."

The answers of the two peoples are almost the same, and their differences must be recorded:

There are two differences, and both look in the same direction: al-Ayka's answer goes further.

One — an accusation has been added: la-mina'l-kādhibīn ("one of the liars").

Two — the demand has changed. Thamūd was asking for a sign; al-Ayka asks directly for punishment.

I record this as an observation: when the answers of the five peoples in the sūra are set in order, the demands grow steadily harsher. And what the last people ask for is what will be given to them — they said fa-asqiṭ ʿalaynā, and fa-akhadhahum ʿadhābu yawmi'ẓ-ẓulla came about.

And the principle recorded in al-Burūj is at work here too: the outcome is announced in the language of the demand.

The root ك-س-ف: to break into pieces, to cut. Kisaf — the plural of kisfa: pieces, sections.

The word occurs in several places in the Qurʾān, and always together with the sky (al-Isrāʾ 17/92; al-Rūm 30/48; Sabaʾ 34/9; al-Ṭūr 52/44 — treated in al-Ṭūr).

And the verse recorded at al-Ṭūr 52/44 attaches here: wa in yaraw kisfan mina's-samāʾi sāqiṭan yaqūlū saḥābun markūm — "if they saw a fragment of the sky falling they would say, 'piled-up clouds'". The Qurʾān, that is, records in another sūra that even when the thing asked for is given it will be interpreted otherwise.

I record this link as a reading of the Qurʾān by the Qurʾān, and it stands on the same line as the fourth verse of the sūra.

And Shuʿayb's answer is the shortest of all the messengers' answers in the sūra: five words.

And its content must be recorded: the answer neither refuses nor discusses the demand. They asked for punishment; Shuʿayb says "my Lord knows best what you do". He takes the matter away from himself, that is, and leaves it to knowledge and judgement.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is its overlap with Noah's answer: Noah too did not issue the judgement asked of him, but said in ḥisābuhum illā ʿalā rabbī (113). Both messengers end the dispute by saying that the judgement is not theirs.

Both sentences use the same roots (ع-ل-م and ع-م-ل). This is an overlap that can be verified from the text.

And the difference must be recorded: Noah says "I have no knowledge", Shuʿayb says "my Lord knows better". Both draw the same limit, but from different sides.

The root ظ-ل-ل: shade. Ẓulla — a shade, a thing that covers over. The word is used in the Qurʾān both of a protecting shade (ẓulalun mina'n-nār — reversed at al-Zumar 39/16) and of cloud (ẓulalin mina'l-ghamām — al-Baqara 2/210).

And the Qurʾān does not explain what this punishment was. Yawmu'ẓ-ẓulla — "the day of the shadow" is said; what the shadow was is not.

In the reports a cloud, heat and fire are spoken of; these are not in the Qurʾān. I do not enter into a detail the Qurʾān does not give.

There are two things to be recorded, and both are read off the text:

One — the word is a word that suggests protection. In a hot climate shade is what one takes refuge in. And the punishment is named with that word.

Two — a link can be made with the name of the people. Aṣḥābu'l-Ayka — "the people of the dense thicket". A thicket is the source of shade.

I record this link as my own reading, and it is not binding: the people are named as the people of a shaded place, and their punishment comes by way of a shade. That this is intended is not stated in the text; that the two words stand in the same sūra fifteen verses apart is a datum of the text. And it accords with the principle recorded in al-Burūj: the sentence is announced in the language of the offence or of the condition.

The construction occurs three times in the sūra (135, 156, 189), and all three are in three different accounts. This was tabulated in the section on 26/131-135.

And a point of word order must be recorded: in the first two occurrences the construction stood inside a warning (innī akhāfu ʿalaykum ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīm; fa-yaʾkhudhakum ʿadhābu yawmin ʿaẓīm). In the third it stands inside a statement of fact: innahu kāna ʿadhāba yawmin ʿaẓīm.

This is an order that can be verified from the text: the same construction occurs three times, moving from warning to fulfilment.

The eighth and last seal of the sūra. The mould was treated at 26/8-9.

And an observation about position: the seal here closes not only the account of Shuʿayb but the whole seven-account sequence. The next verse will change the subject and turn to the one addressed: wa innahu la-tanzīlu rabbi'l-ʿālamīn (192).

And the construction rabbi'l-ʿālamīn must be recorded: five times in five accounts it was said "my wage falls only upon the Lord of all the worlds". In the hundred and ninety-second verse the same construction will be used of the source of the Qurʾān. This is an overlap that can be verified from the text, and it binds the two sections together.