Tafsir of Al-Qamar 54:24

"They said: Shall we follow one human from among us?"

(They said: Shall we follow one human from among us?) Meaning, one who is of our own species. The prepositional phrase [from among us] is in the position of an adjective for "a human," and the accusative case of "a human" is governed by a verb explained by what follows it—i.e., "Shall we follow a human."

(One) meaning, a single individual who has no followers, or one among the commoners rather than the nobility, as is understood from the [indefinite] nature [of the noun] which indicates a lack of distinction. It is another adjective for "a human." Its placement after the first adjective, despite the first being a semi-sentence, serves to draw attention to the fact that both his being of our species and his being alone are factors that preclude following him. Had it been placed before the first adjective, this alert would have been lost.

Abu al-Sammal—as mentioned by al-Hudhali in his book al-Kamil and by Abu 'Amr al-Dani—read "Abashrun minna wahidun" with both in the nominative case, on the basis that "a human" is the subject and what follows it is its adjective, and the Almighty’s saying "shall we follow him" is the predicate. Ibn Khalawayh, the author of al-Lawami', and Ibn 'Atiyyah reported from Abu al-Sammal the nominative for "a human" and the accusative for "one." Ibn 'Atiyyah explained the nominative of "a human" either as implying a passive verb—the estimation being "Is a human being announced [to us]?"—or as an initial subject with the sentence "shall we follow him" as the predicate. He explained the accusative of "one" as a circumstantial qualifier (hal) derived either from the object pronoun in "shall we follow him" or from the implicit pronoun in "from among us." The author of al-Lawami' explained the accusative of "one" in this manner as well. As for the nominative of "a human," he explained it as an initial subject with an implied predicate, meaning "Is a human from among us sent to us?" The preceding interrogative favors the estimation of a verb that would place it in the nominative case.

(Indeed, then—if we were to do so—we would be in error) Meaning, if we were to follow a single human from among us, we would be in manifest error regarding the truth.

(And madness) 24. That is, the fires of Hell, being the plural of sa'ir (blazing fire).

It is narrated that Salih (peace be upon him) used to say to them: "If you do not follow me, you will be in error regarding the truth and in a blazing fire." They turned his words back upon him due to their extreme insolence, saying: "If we follow you, we would be as you say." Thus, the speech is a form of mocking reversal and taking the speaker’s premise against him. The plural "fires" is used in consideration of the different levels [of Hell] or for hyperbole.

It is narrated from Ibn 'Abbas what supports what we have said, as he stated: "It means we would be in a state of distance from the truth and in torment." In another narration from him, he explains al-su'r as madness, taken as a singular noun meaning that. It is said, "a mad she-camel (naqah mas'urah)," if it exceeds the limit in its pace as if it were mad. A poet said: "As if there were madness in her when the white camels are driven by her, moving with a wearying, swift gait." The first [interpretation] is more sound and more eloquent.