'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Ash-Shu'ara

This surah is entirely Meccan, as stated by the majority of people. And Muqatil said: Among it is a Medinan verse, which is the verse in which the poets are mentioned, and His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Or did they not have a sign that the scholars of the Children of Israel know?﴾ [Ash-Shu'ara: 197].

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Ta-Sin﴾ ﴿These are the verses of the clear Book﴾ ﴿Perhaps you will kill yourself with grief, that they do not believe﴾ ﴿If We will, We could send down upon them from the heaven a sign, so their necks would remain humbled to it﴾ ﴿And no mention comes to them from the Most Merciful that is newly revealed except that they turn away from it﴾ ﴿So they have denied, and soon there will come to them the news of what they used to mock﴾ ﴿Have they not seen the earth, how much We have produced therein of every noble kind?﴾ ﴿Indeed, in that is a sign, and most of them were not believers﴾ ﴿And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful﴾

The discussion on the letters at the beginning of the surahs has been previously covered.

And 'These' is a nominative by way of beginning, and it and its news serves as the news for 'Ta-Sin' in some interpretations. The reference with 'These' is according to the disagreement regarding 'Ta-Sin', and according to some opinions, 'These' refers to the present, and 'That' to the existent, just as 'This' can refer to a known absent as if it were present.

And ﴿the clear Book﴾ refers to the Qur'an.

Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Abu Bakr from Asim read: 'Ta-Sin' with a broken 'Ta', and Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read it with an opened 'Ta' and with the merging of the 'Noon' from 'Seen' into 'Meem'. Hamzah alone read it with its clarity, and this is the reading of Abu Ja'far, and it has been narrated from Nafi'. And Ya'qub narrated from Abu Ja'far and Nafi' the separation of each letter from it individually. Abu Hatim said: The preferred choice is to open the 'Ta' and merge the last 'Noon' into the first 'Meem', so the 'Meem' becomes connected.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Perhaps you﴾, this verse is a consolation for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding what he was experiencing of anxiety and eagerness for their belief. It was from the preoccupation of the mind in the realm of fear for himself. And 'the one who kills himself' is the one who destroys himself with worry, as said by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and the people. And from that is the saying of Dhul-Rummah:

O you who are killing yourself with grief over something that fate has taken from your hands.

And he was addressed with 'Perhaps' according to what is in the nature of humans from the expectation of destruction in such a situation. And the meaning of the verse is: Do not be concerned, O Muhammad, about them, and convey your message, and you are not responsible for their belief, for that is in the hands of Allah, exalted is He; if He willed, they would have believed. And His saying: 'that' is an object for that purpose.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿If We will﴾ is a condition, and what is in the condition of ambiguity is - in this verse - in our realm. As for Allah, exalted is He, He knows that He will not send down upon them a sign of compulsion. Rather, Allah, exalted is He, has made the signs of the prophets and the signs indicating Him subject to observation and thought, so that those who have been guided in His knowledge may be guided, and those who have been led astray may remain astray. And for the observation to have a gain by which reward and punishment are connected, and the sign of compulsion would negate all of this if it were to exist.

And it is read: "We send down" with a فتح (fath) on the نون (noon) and a شَدّ (shadd) on the زاي (zay) by Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, Nafi', Al-A'raj, Asim, and Al-Hasan. And Abu Amr and the people of Basra read it with a سُكُون (sukun) on the نون (noon) and a تَخْفِيف (takhfif) of the زاي (zay). And Harun narrated from Abu Amr: "He wishes to send down" with a ياء (ya) in both. The خُضُوع (khudhu') to the indication in the revealed verse was to be arranged in one of two ways: either by fear of destruction in opposing the command associated with it, like the speaking of the mountain to the Children of Israel, or that it be from the clarity by which submission and obedience of souls occurs. And none of these two was brought by a prophet, and the reason for that is what we have mentioned, which is a clear direction for the scholars. And Talha read: "So their necks remain," which is the intended meaning in the reading of the majority, and making the past the place of the future indicates the strengthening of the occurrence of the action. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Their necks﴾ has two possible interpretations: one of them, which is the saying of Mujahid, Ibn Zayd, and Al-Akhfash, is that he means: their groups. It is said: he came in a neck of people, meaning a group. And from this is the saying of the poet:

Indeed, Iraq and its people ∗∗∗ are a neck towards you, so you have come.

And upon this is understood the saying of Abu Mihjan:

.................. ∗∗∗ And I conceal the secret in it, the strike of the neck.

And for this it was said: "The neck of a neck," and it was not said: "The neck of a neck" to avoid ambiguity, as said by Al-Zahrawi.

And the other interpretation is that he means by "the necks" the known wounds, and that is because the خُضُوع (khudhu') of the neck is a sign of humiliation and submission, and from this is the saying of the poet:

And when the men saw Yazid, you saw them ∗∗∗ with necks bowed, humbled eyes.

So the meaning of this interpretation we speak about in His saying: ﴿Humbled﴾, how did he gather it in the plural of those who have understanding? And that is derived in two ways from the speech of the Arabs: one of them is that the addition to those who have understanding has imparted its ruling to those who do not understand, just as the addition to the feminine imparts the feminine marker to the masculine. And from this is the saying of Al-A'sha:

.................. ∗∗∗ as the breast of the spear rose from the blood.

And this is common.

And the other way is that "the necks" when described by an action that can only be intended for humans, which is خُضُوع (khudhu') - for it is an action that follows a command in the soul, gathered in the plural of those who have understanding. And this is similar to His saying, the Most High: ﴿We came willingly﴾ [Fussilat: 11], and His saying: ﴿I saw them prostrating to me﴾ [Yusuf: 4]. And Ibn Abi Abla read: "It is humbled for her."

Then he reprimanded the disbelievers and pointed out their evil actions by His saying, the Most High: ﴿And what comes to them﴾ the verse. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿New﴾ means: the new coming, meaning: the coming of the Qur'an to humanity was something after something. And a group said: it is possible that he means by "the reminder" Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, as he said in another verse: ﴿Indeed, Allah has sent down to you a reminder﴾ [At-Talaq: 10] ﴿A messenger﴾ [At-Talaq: 11], so his description as the new one is established.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the first saying is clearer.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, they have denied, so there will come to them" is a warning of punishment in this world and the Hereafter. It strengthens that it is a warning of punishment in this world; for that has indeed befallen them, like at Badr and others.

And when their turning away from contemplating the Creator and the God is their greatest disbelief, and they make idols gods and turn away from the remembrance of that, He alerts to the power of Allah, exalted is He, and that He is the Creator and Originator who deserves worship by His saying: "Do they not see to the earth?" The "spouse" refers to the type and kind, and "the noble" refers to the good and perfected, as said by Mujahid and Qatadah. It refers to the things by which the affairs and sustenance and vegetation are established, and this includes animals because they are from growth. And from it is His saying, exalted is He: "And Allah caused you to grow from the earth a growth" [Nuh: 17]. Al-Shabi said: People are from the growth of the earth, so whoever enters Paradise is noble, and whoever goes against that is base. And His saying, exalted is He: "And most of them were not believers" is a judgment upon most of them of disbelief. Then He warned by His saying, exalted is He: "And indeed, your Lord is the Exalted in Might, the Merciful," meaning: He is Exalted in His vengeance against the disbelievers and Merciful to the believers of every nation. Ibn Jurayj said something similar to this, and in the term "the Merciful" is a promise.