Verses 58–67
7. Al-A'raaf · The Heights
Makkan206 verses
وَٱلْبَلَدُ ٱلطَّيِّبُ يَخْرُجُ نَبَاتُهُۥ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِۦ ۖ وَٱلَّذِى خَبُثَ لَا يَخْرُجُ إِلَّا نَكِدًۭا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نُصَرِّفُ ٱلْءَايَٰتِ لِقَوْمٍۢ يَشْكُرُونَ
7:58The good land—its vegetation comes out by the permission of its Lord, and as for that which is bad, it does not come out except sparsely. Thus do We paraphrase the signs variously for a people who give thanks.1
لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ فَقَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥٓ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍۢ
7:59Certainly We sent Noah to his people. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. Indeed I fear for you the punishment of a tremendous day.’
قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ مِن قَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّا لَنَرَىٰكَ فِى ضَلَٰلٍۢ مُّبِينٍۢ
7:60The elite of his people said, ‘Indeed we see you in manifest error.’2
قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِى ضَلَٰلَةٌۭ وَلَٰكِنِّى رَسُولٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
7:61He said, ‘O my people, I am not in error. Rather, I am an apostle from the Lord of all the worlds.
أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِسَٰلَٰتِ رَبِّى وَأَنصَحُ لَكُمْ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
7:62I communicate to you the messages of my Lord, and I am your well-wisher, and I know from Allah what you do not know.
أَوَعَجِبْتُمْ أَن جَآءَكُمْ ذِكْرٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍۢ مِّنكُمْ لِيُنذِرَكُمْ وَلِتَتَّقُوا۟ وَلَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
7:63Do you consider it odd that a reminder from your Lord should come to you through a man from among yourselves, to warn you so that you may be Godwary and so that you may receive His mercy?’
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَأَنجَيْنَٰهُ وَٱلَّذِينَ مَعَهُۥ فِى ٱلْفُلْكِ وَأَغْرَقْنَا ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَوْمًا عَمِينَ
7:64But they denied him. So We delivered him and those who were with him in the ark, and We drowned those who denied Our signs. Indeed, they were a blind lot.34
۞ وَإِلَىٰ عَادٍ أَخَاهُمْ هُودًۭا ۗ قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥٓ ۚ أَفَلَا تَتَّقُونَ
7:65And to [the people of] ‘Ad [We sent] Hud, their brother. He said, ‘O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. Will you not then be wary [of Him]?’5
قَالَ ٱلْمَلَأُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِن قَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّا لَنَرَىٰكَ فِى سَفَاهَةٍۢ وَإِنَّا لَنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ ٱلْكَٰذِبِينَ
7:66The elite of his people who were faithless said, ‘Indeed we see you to be in folly, and indeed we consider you to be a liar.’
قَالَ يَٰقَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِى سَفَاهَةٌۭ وَلَٰكِنِّى رَسُولٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
7:67He said, ‘O my people, I am not in folly. Rather, I am an apostle from the Lord of all the worlds.
Tafsir
Commentary on this passage
Verse 59
1.The name of Nuh (a.s.) was Abdul Aala or Abdul Malik and his geneology is Nuh bin Malik bin Mutusalekh bin Akhnooh. He was the first prophet after Idris (a.s.) and was born 126 years after the death of Adam (a.s.). He lived for 2500 years. He preached for 950 years and due to weeping excessively for the fear of Allah he earned the title of Nuh. He is also called the Second Adam and senior of the prophets. The style of his preaching shows that Allah’s prophet never resorts to anger in the propagation of religion. People called him deviated but in return he preached to the people his Apostleship and said that Allah can confer Apostleship to whomsoever He wants. It is not necessary to become an Angel or Jinn.
Verse 65
2.Hud (a.s.) is the first person who spoke in Arabic language. He had four sons named Qahtan, Maqhat, Qahit and Faligh. His people belonged to the family of Nuh (a.s.) and Shaitan misled them and they started worshipping idols and started the system of creating mischief in the land. Hud (a.s.) preached to them with solemnity and seriousness, but the people never gave up ignorance and foolishness.
Footnotes
Explanations of words and phrases in these verses
Benefit
Inni Akhafa Alaikum means that if you do not have faith in the punishment that I have mentioned at least you must be fearful of it. It is the duty of a same person to safeguard himself when he expects danger, and must not expose himself to undue risk.
- 1
‘Nakad’ is thing that is grown after great difficulty. That is, toil is more and growth is scanty.
- 2
‘Malaa’ denotes the heads of clans or chiefs of community. They are wholly responsible for the community and to be blamed for the deviation that they spread. Their ego restrains the whole community from guidance and leads it to perdition.
- 3
This is used both as a singular and a plural. It means a ship as well as ships.
- 4
Aama is a visually handicapped person.
- 5
This community flourished in Yemen in the area of Ahqaf which is between Amman and Hadaramaut.
Benefit
We should know that the prophet is referred to as the brother of his community on the basis of his relationship with his people or due to human sympathy - though from the aspect of their faith their brotherhood was absolutely different. They were the standard bearers of monotheism while the community followed polytheism.