Surah Al-A'raf 7:77
ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ
So they hamstrung the she-camel and were insolent toward the command of their Lord and said, "O Salih, bring us what you promise us, if you should be of the messengers."
Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:75-79
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 7:75-79
{لِلَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا} To those whom the leaders of the disbelievers deemed weak and humiliated.
{لِمَنْ ءَامَنَ مِنْهُمْ} This is a substitute (*badal*) for "those who were deemed weak."
If you ask: To what does the pronoun in "among them" (minhum) refer? I say: To "his people" (qawmihi) or to "those who were deemed weak" (alladhina ustud'ifu).
If you ask: Does the difference in the referent affect the meaning? I say: Yes. If it refers to "his people," then "those who believed" is an explanation of those who were deemed weak among them, indicating that the weakness was restricted to the believers. If it refers to "those who were deemed weak," then the weakness was not restricted to them, indicating that the oppressed group included both believers and disbelievers.
{أَتَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ صَالِحًا مُرْسَلٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِ} This is something they said by way of mockery and sarcasm, just as you might say to an anthropomorphist: "Do you know that God is above the Throne?"
If you ask: How is their response, {إِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلَ بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ}, valid? I say: They asked them about the knowledge of his mission, so the believers treated his mission as a known, manifest, and accepted matter that admits no doubt—as if they said: "Knowledge of his mission and what he was sent with is beyond dispute or suspicion due to its clarity and brilliance; the only point of discussion is the obligation to believe in it, and we inform you that we are believers in it." That is why the response of the disbelievers was: {قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا إِنَّا بِالَّذِي...}, replacing "sent with" with "in it," rejecting what the believers had established as known and accepted.
{فَعَقَرُوا النَّاقَةَ} The act of hamstringing is attributed to all of them because it was done with their consent, even if only some of them performed the act. It is often said to a large tribe, "You did such and such," even if only one of them did it.
{وَعَتَوْا عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِمْ} They turned away from it, grew arrogant, and refused to comply. "The command of their Lord" refers to what He commanded through the tongue of Salih (peace be upon him): {فَذَرُوهَا تَأْكُلْ فِي أَرْضِ اللَّهِ}. It may also mean "the affair of their Lord," i.e., His religion. It is also possible that the meaning is: "Their arrogance stemmed from the command of their Lord," as if the command to leave the she-camel alone was the cause of their arrogance. Similar to this is: {وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي}.
{ائْتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَا} They meant the punishment. It was permissible to use this phrasing because it was a known matter. Their haste for it was due to their denial of it; hence, they linked it to that which they disbelieve in—namely, his being one of the messengers.
{الرَّجْفَةُ} The cry (*sayhah*) that caused the earth to shake and them to tremble.
{فِي دَارِهِمْ} In their lands or their dwellings.
{جَاثِمِينَ} Motionless, dead, and not moving. It is said: "The people are *juthum*," meaning they are sitting, motionless, and not uttering a sound. From this comes the *mujaththamah* (the animal tied and its limbs gathered to be shot), which is forbidden.
[Hadith of Jabir] Jabir reported that when the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by Al-Hijr, he said: "Do not ask for signs, for the people of Salih asked for them, and the cry seized them. Not one of them remained except for one man who was in the Sanctuary of God." They asked, "Who is he?" He said, "That is Abu Righal. When he left the Sanctuary, what befell his people befell him." It is narrated that Salih had sent him to a people, but he disobeyed his command. It is also narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) passed by the grave of Abu Righal and said, "Do you know who this is?" They said, "God and His Messenger know best." He then mentioned the story of Abu Righal, that he was buried there with a golden branch, so they rushed to it, dug it up with their swords, and extracted the branch.
{فَتَوَلَّى عَنْهُمْ} The apparent meaning is that he witnessed what happened to them and turned away after seeing them lying motionless. He turned away grieving and lamenting the loss of their faith, saying to them: "O my people, I exerted my efforts for you and spared no energy in conveying the message and advising you, but {لَا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ} (you do not love the advisors)." It is also possible that he turned away as one departing, rejecting their persistence when he saw the signs before the punishment descended.
It is narrated that they hamstrung the she-camel on Wednesday, and the punishment descended on them on Saturday. It is narrated that he left with one hundred and ten believers while weeping; he looked back and saw the smoke rising, knowing they had perished. They had fifteen hundred houses. It is narrated that he returned with those who were with him and they inhabited their lands.
If you ask: How is it valid to address the dead and say, {وَلَكِنْ لَا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ}? I say: A man might say to his companion who is dead—having advised him while alive, but the companion did not listen until he cast himself into destruction—"O my brother, how much I advised you and how much I told you, but you did not accept from me!" His saying, {وَلَكِنْ لَا تُحِبُّونَ النَّاصِحِينَ}, is a narrative of a past state.