Tafsir of Al-Qamar 54:26-32

He [Salih] was saying: "If you do not follow me, you will be in error, far from the truth, and in su‘ur (madness/fire)." They inverted this against him, saying: "If we follow you, we would then be as you say." It is said that al-dalal (error) means straying from what is correct, and al-su‘ur means madness. It is said of a she-camel that she is mas‘urah (mad). A poet said: As if she has madness when the camels shake her, With a trot and a relaxed, tiring pace.

If you ask: How could they deny following a human being, one of their own? I say: They said "A human?" denying that they should follow someone of their own species, demanding instead someone of a higher species, namely the angels. They said "from among us" because if he were one of them, the comparison would be stronger. They said "one" to deny that a whole nation should follow a single man. Or, they meant "one of our commoners," not the most noble or excellent among us. This is evidenced by their saying: {Has the message been cast upon him from among us?}, meaning: Has the revelation been sent down to him from among us, while there are those among us more deserving of being chosen for prophethood?

{أشر} (insolent): Arrogant and haughty. His insolence, his audacity, and his desire to exalt himself over us led him to make that claim.

{سيعلمون غدا} (They will know tomorrow): When the punishment descends upon them, or on the Day of Resurrection, {who is the insolent liar}—is it Salih, or the one who called him a liar? It is also recited as (ستعلمون) with a ta’ (you will know), narrating what Salih said in response to them, or it is the speech of Allah, the Exalted, by way of iltifat (shift in address). It is also recited as (الأشُر) with a damma on the shin, like hadath and huduth, or hadhir and hudhur. It is also recited as (الأشّر), which is more emphatic regarding insolence. Al-ashar and al-ashir are derived from their saying "he is better (khayr) than him" and "worse (sharr) than him," though this is a rejected root. Ibn al-Anbari reported the Arabs saying akhayar and ashar, and "how akhayar and ashar he is."

{مرسلوا الناقة} (senders of the she-camel): Those who cause her to be sent and brought out from the plateau as they requested. {فتنة لهم} (a trial for them): A test and an ordeal for them. {فارتقبهم} (watch them): Wait for them and observe what they are doing. {واصطبر} (and be patient): Endure their harm and do not hasten until My command comes to you.

{قسمة بينهم} (a division between them): Divided between them; she has a turn to drink one day, and they have a turn to drink another. He said "between them" (masculine) by way of taghlib (giving precedence to the rational beings). {محتضر} (attended): Attended by them or by the she-camel. It is said they attend the water on their turn, and she attends the milk on her turn.

{صاحبهم} (their companion): Qudar ibn Salif, the red-haired man of Thamud. {فتعاطى} (he dared): He became bold enough to undertake the great matter without concern, so he brought about the hamstringing of the she-camel. It is said he dared to approach the she-camel and hamstrung her, or he dared to take up the sword.

{صيحة واحدة} (a single blast): The blast of Gabriel. Al-hashim is dry, crushed, and broken wood. Al-muhtadhar is that which is used to make a fold (hazirah); it dries out over time, and the livestock tread upon it, so it breaks and crumbles. Al-Hasan recited it with a fatha on the za’, meaning the place of the fold (al-hazirah).