al-Aʿrāf 7:85-93 — Shuʿayb

Wa ilā Madyana akhāhum Shuʿaybā, qāla yā qawmi'budū'llāha mā lakum min ilāhin ghayruh, qad jāʾatkum bayyinatun min rabbikum, fa-awfu'l-kayla wa'l-mīzāna wa lā tabkhasu'n-nāsa ashyāʾahum wa lā tufsidū fi'l-arḍi baʿda iṣlāḥihā, dhālikum khayrun lakum in kuntum muʾminīn

"And to Madyan [We sent] their brother Shuʿayb. He said: 'O my people! Serve God; you have no god but Him. A clear proof has come to you from your Lord. Give full measure and full weight; do not give people less than their due; do not work corruption on the earth after it has been set in order. That is better for you, if you are believers.'"

In the four stories what came after the shared opening sentence was different (it was given in the table of the pattern above). With Shuʿayb that place is filled with three prohibitions, and all three concern measure:

The third is word for word identical with the fifty-sixth verse, and this repetition was tabulated in the section on the structure of the sūra: the sūra puts its own command into the mouth of a prophet. In Hūd Table 4 it was shown that Sūrat Hūd does the same thing four times (istaghfirū rabbakum thumma tūbū ilayh → 11/3 and the mouths of three prophets). I rely on that treatment: al-Aʿrāf applies the same technique once.

The root ب-خ-س: to give a thing less than its due, to lower its value. The verb occurs in Shuʿayb's mouth in other places in the Qurʾān too (al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/183; Hūd 11/85) and the subject of measure was treated in detail in al-Muṭaffifīn. I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it here.

The eighty-sixth verse is the picture that belongs to this block:

Wa lā taqʿudū bi-kulli ṣirāṭin tūʿidūna wa taṣuddūna ʿan sabīli'llāhi man āmana bihī wa tabghūnahā ʿiwajā "Do not sit on every road, threatening; do not bar from the way of God those who believe in Him, and do not seek to make that way crooked."

And this sentence has a precedent within the sūra. This is a verifiable overlap and must be recorded:

The same verb (ق-ع-د — to sit) and the same word (ṣirāṭ). The first a statement of intent, the second a prohibition.

I record this as my own reading and it is not binding; its ground is the verb and object of the two verses: the sūra forbids to a human community, in the eighty-sixth verse, the work described in the sixteenth. That is, sitting at the head of the road is first told in the sūra as a stance, then forbidden as something a human being can do. This is an explanation, not a ruling.

And the sentence wa tabghūnahā ʿiwajā occurs twice in the sūra (45 and 86) — it was counted in the section on the structure. The first was the description of the wrongdoers in the scene of the hereafter; the second is a prohibition here.

The root ع-و-ج: crookedness. And the lexicographers record a distinction between ʿiwaj (with kasra) and ʿawaj (with fatḥa): ʿawaj is used for crookedness seen by the eye (a stick, a wall), ʿiwaj for crookedness that is not seen (a word, a religion, a road). This distinction is transmitted and accords with the verse; I convey it as transmitted.

In the story of Shuʿayb malaʾ occurs twice, and this is the highest number for any one prophet in the sūra. It was counted in the section on the structure; here it is treated:

The direction of the two addresses differs: one outward, the other inward. I record this as an observation about word order: the other side speaks first with the messenger, then with those who might listen to the messenger.

And in the ninety-second verse this second sentence is answered with the same word:

The same word, with the subject reversed. Of those who said "if you follow him you will be losers" it is said "they were the losers themselves". This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.

The lexicographers dwell on aw la-taʿūdunna fī millatinā ("or you shall return to our creed") in the eighty-eighth verse and on the expression in ʿudnā fī millatikum in the eighty-ninth.

The question is this: does the verb ʿawda (to return) require having previously been in that state? Two explanations are transmitted in the classical commentaries, and I give them in a table:

Both explanations are transmitted; I do not impose a preference. This is a question of language and is not used to build a ruling about prophets (Method).

The root غ-ن-ي: to settle and remain in a place, to live there without want. Maghnā — a dwelling place. The pattern means "as though they had never dwelt there".

In Hūd Table 3 this pattern was counted as one of the five closing patterns of Sūrat Hūd (11/68, 11/95). I rely on that treatment.

And in al-Aʿrāf the pattern occurs only once, in the story of Shuʿayb. This is a countable datum.

And a point of word order must be recorded: in the ninety-second verse the expression alladhīna kadhdhabū Shuʿayban occurs twice — at the beginning of the sentence and in the middle. A pronoun could have been used; it was not.

I record this as an observation about word order: the repetition fixes twice over who the subject is. And in the second sentence the pronoun hum (they) is added as well: kānū humu'l-khāsirīn — the pronoun of separation (ḍamīr al-faṣl), which states restriction: "they were the losers themselves".