His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "The companions of the thicket denied the messengers. When their brother Shu'ayb said to them, 'Will you not be conscious of Allah? Indeed, I am to you a trustworthy messenger. So fear Allah and obey me. And I do not ask of you for it any reward. My reward is only from the Lord of the worlds. Give full measure and do not be among the cheaters. And weigh with an accurate balance. And do not deprive people of their due and do not commit abuse in the land, spreading corruption. And fear the One who created you and the former creation.' They said, 'You are only one of those bewitched. And you are not but a human like us, and we think you are among the liars. So cause a piece of the heaven to fall upon us if you should be among the truthful.' He said, 'My Lord is Most Knowing of what you do.' But they denied him, so there came to them the punishment of the Day of Shade. Indeed, it was the punishment of a great day. Indeed, in that is a sign, but most of them were not believers. And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful." (p-503) Al-Naqqash said: In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy, and Hafsah: "When their brother Shu'ayb said to them," and they said: There is no reason to consider lineage, for he is their brother in that he is their messenger and a human like them. Nafi', Ibn Kathir, and Ibn 'Amir read: "Laykah" in the form of a noun here and in Surah Sad, while the others read: "Al-Ayka," which is the thicket surrounded by trees in general. It is said to be from trees known for their lushness, which the doves and pigeons and similar birds are accustomed to. Qatadah said: Their trees were this type. And "Laykah" is the name of the town in the reading of those who read that, as mentioned by some of the interpreters. Abu Ubaid Al-Qasim ibn Salam mentioned it. Some people went to say that it is a simplification of Al-Ayka, and that it occurred in the Mushaf here and in Surah Sad without the alif. Abu Ali said: The omission of that from the Mushaf does not favor the pronunciation of it this way; for the script of the Mushaf followed the simplification of the pronunciation. Whenever the alif was omitted from the pronunciation, it was omitted from the script, similar to the omission of the waw from His saying: "We will call the keepers of Hell" [Al-'Alaq: 18], when it was omitted from the pronunciation. As for favoring the reading of "Laykah" with the opening of the ya in the position of the genitive, it is not necessitated by what is in the Mushaf. It is a weak reading, and the weakness of it is indicated by the fact that all other instances in the Quran, except for these two places, are unanimously on "Al-Ayka" with the hamzah, alif, and the genitive. And the cities of the people were seven, as has been narrated, and Shu'ayb was not from them. Therefore, it was not mentioned here that he was a brother to them; rather, he was from the people of Midian, and that is why he was mentioned as their brother. And the words in the supplication of each of these prophets are identical since the faith they were called to is one meaning in itself. And in their saying, peace be upon them: "Will you not be conscious of Allah?" is a gentle invitation and kindness, as Allah, exalted and glorified is He, said: "Say, 'Would you like me to guide you to something better than that?'" [An-Nazi'at: 18].

Their disobedience, which is attributed to their disbelief, is the diminishing of weights and the reduction of people's wealth by that. 'Al-Qistās' is the balanced measure, and it is an exaggerated form of 'al-qist'. Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said that His saying: 'Weigh with al-qistās' is with a dammed qaf in 'al-qistās'. Isa and the people of Kufa read it with a broken qaf. And 'ta'thaw' means: you cause corruption. It is said: 'Atha' if he corrupted.

'And al-jibillah' refers to the past generations and creation. The poet said:

And death is the greatest event that befalls the creation.

The majority of people read: 'al-jibillah' with a broken jīm and bā', while Abu Muhaisin and al-Hasan read: 'al-jibillah' with a dammed jīm. 'Al-kisaf' means: the piece, and one of them is 'kasfah', like tamrah and tamr. And 'the Day of Shadow' is the day of their punishment. Its form, as it has been narrated, is that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, tested them with a severe sea. When that day came, a cloud covered some of their region, so they gathered under it. That cloud erupted into fire and burned them completely. And people have lengthy discussions about the Day of Shadow that are not established. The truth is that it is a punishment that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, made a shadow. Al-Tabari mentioned from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said: Whoever tells you what the punishment of the Day of Shadow is, has lied, and the rest of the verse is clear.