Surah An-Naml: Verses (45–53)

And We had sent...

• Regarding the reading of {أن اعبدوا الله} (that you worship Allah), it is read with a dammah on the bā’ (باء) following the nūn (ن) of an (أن).

• Concerning His saying {فإذا هم فريقان} (Then behold, they became two parties), there are two opinions:
  1. The intended meaning is one party of believers and another party of disbelievers.
  2. The intended meaning refers to the people of Salih before any of them believed.

• As for {يختصمون} (disputing), the meaning is that those who believed did so because they looked at his proof and recognized its correctness. If this is the case, it is necessary that they become opponents to those who did not accept it. When this dispute occurs in matters of religion, it indicates that argumentation in religion is legitimate and refutes the practice of blind following (taqlīd).

• Regarding His saying {قال ياقوم لم تستعجلون بالسيئة قبل الحسنة} (He said, "O my people, why do you hasten to evil before good?"), there are two discussions:

• The First Discussion: Concerning the interpretation of hastening evil before good, there are two views: 1. When those who denied Salih (peace be upon him) were not convinced by his argumentation, Salih warned them of punishment. They responded mockingly, saying, {ائتنا بعذاب الله إن كنت من الصادقين} (Bring us the punishment of Allah, if you are of the truthful) (Al-Ankabut: 29). At that point, Salih said, {لم تستعجلون بالسيئة قبل الحسنة}. This means Allah Almighty has enabled you to attain Allah's mercy and reward; why then do you turn away from it to hasten His punishment? 2. Due to their ignorance, they used to say that if the punishment Salih threatened occurred, they would seek forgiveness then, and Allah would accept their repentance and avert the punishment. Salih addressed them according to their belief, saying, why do you not seek Allah's forgiveness before the punishment descends? Seeking good is preferable to hastening evil.

• The Second Discussion: The evil (السيئة) refers to punishment, and the good (الحسنة) refers to reward. Describing punishment as "evil" is metaphorical. The reason for this allowance is either because punishment is a necessary consequence of disbelief, or because it resembles evil in being disliked. As for describing mercy as "good," some say it is literal, while others say it is metaphorical; the former is closer to the truth.

• After Salih (peace be upon him) established this truth, they responded with corrupt speech: {اطيرنا بك} (We take ill omens from you), meaning, "We consider you a source of bad luck, because whatever hardship or drought befalls us is due to your ill omen and the ill omen of those with you."

• The author of Al-Kashshāf mentioned that when a man traveled, he might pass a bird and frighten it away. If it flew toward him (sāniḥan), he took it as a good omen; if it flew away from him (bāriḥan), he took it as a bad omen. When they attributed good and evil to the bird, this metaphor was extended to what pertains to good and evil, which is the decree and division of Allah.

• Salih (peace be upon him) responded by saying: {طائركم عند الله} (Your omen is with Allah), meaning the source from which your good and evil come is with Allah—that is, His judgment and decree. If He wills, He will provide for you; if He wills, He will withhold from you. Another interpretation is that the recompense for your belief in omens (ṭiyarah) is with Allah, meaning punishment. The first view is more probable because the people were referring to an existing situation, so the response must address that situation and not something else.

• Then, he clarified that this was their ignorance by saying: {بل أنتم قوم تفتنون} (Nay, you are a people who are tried/tested). This implies that others might have incited them to say this, or it means that Satan tests you with his whispers.

• Then the Almighty said: {وكان فى المدينة تسعة رهط يفسدون فى الارض} (And there were in the city nine men who were causing corruption in the land). The most likely meaning of rahṭ is a group, as rahṭ generally implies a company, not an individual. It is possible they were tribes, or they were included in the count due to the difference in their characteristics and states, not necessarily a difference in the cause [of their corruption].

• The Almighty clarified that they were corrupting the land and not mixing that corruption with any righteousness, hence His saying: {يفسدون فى الارض ولا يصلحون} (causing corruption in the land and were not setting things right). Then the Almighty explained that among their corrupt acts was what they plotted concerning Salih (peace be upon him).

• Regarding {تقاسموا بالله} (Let us swear by Allah a mutual oath), it could be an imperative command or a circumstantial clause (ḥāl) with an implied qad (قد), meaning, "They said, mutually swearing." Al-Bayāt (night attack) means following the enemy by night.

• As for {ثم لنقولن لوليه ما شهدنا مهلك أهله} (and then we will surely say to his heir that we did not witness the destruction of his family), meaning: If his people accuse us, we will swear to them that we were not present.

• It is read: {مهلك} with fatḥa on the mīm and lām and kasra on the lām (from halaka), and {مهلك} with ḍammah on the mīm (from ahlaka). The word can imply the verbal noun (maṣdar), the place, or the time.

• Then the Almighty said: {ومكروا مكرا ومكرنا مكرا وهم لا يشعرون} (And they plotted a plot, and We plotted a plot, while they perceived not). Scholars differed regarding Allah’s plot in several ways:
  1. Allah’s plot is their destruction in a manner they do not perceive, likened to the plot of a plotter through metaphor (isti‘ārah). It is narrated that Salih (peace be upon him) had a mosque in the Ḥijr (the area near the Kaaba) in a valley where he used to pray. They said, "Salih claims that he will be rid of us in three [days], so we will be rid of him and his family before three." They went out to the valley and said, "When he comes to pray, we will kill him, then we will return to his family and kill them." So Allah sent a rock that sealed the entrance of the valley, destroying them, and the rest of the people were destroyed by the Shout.
  2. They came at night with drawn swords, and Allah sent angels filling Salih's house, striking them with stones. They saw the stones but no thrower was seen.
  3. Allah informed Salih of their plot, so he guarded himself against them; that was Allah’s plot against them.

• As for {أنا دمرناهم} (Indeed, We destroyed them), this is a new sentence (isti’nāf). Whoever reads it with fatḥa (أَنَّ) raises it as a substitute for al-‘āqibah (the end), or it is the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning, "Their end is destruction," or it is in the accusative case meaning "because We," or it is the predicate of kāna (was), meaning, "The end of their plot was destruction."

• As for {خاوية} (empty/ruined), it is a circumstantial state (ḥāl) governed by the implied verb in {تلك} (that/their). ‘Īsā ibn ‘Umar read it with the nominative case (خاوية) as the predicate of an omitted subject. And Allah knows best.

The Fourth Story: The Story of Lot (peace be upon him)