26: The Poets (Al-Shuara)

This verse consists of the letters ṭā, sīn and mīm, which may stand for the names of God: Laṭīf, meaning Benignant, Samī‘, meaning Hearing, and ‘Alīm, meaning Knowing. I may, however, suggest another interpretation. These chapters speak in particular of the calling of Moses at Mount Sinai, so ṭā sīn may stand for Ṭūr Sīna’, or Mount Sinai, and mīm may stand for Moses; attention is thus called in these letters to the revelation granted to Moses at Mount Sinai, which bears testimony to the truth of the Prophet. This is corroborated by the plain statement made in the last chapter of this group, that the disbelievers called the revelations of Moses and Muhammad two enchantments backing up each other (28:48).

The Quran makes manifest all that is needed for a right development of the human faculties, and it also makes manifest the whole truth.

The Prophet was informed by Divine revelation of the doom of an evil generation, but instead of cursing it, he exerted himself heroically to save his people by bringing about a mighty transformation among them, a transformation for which he was so anxious that he is described here as almost killing himself with grief.

Such a sign was sent in the battle of Badr and again in the conquest of Makkah. In the former place their chiefs were laid low, and in the latter they accepted submission.

It was the prophecies of their own defeat and of the predominance of Islam at which they mocked.

Seven prophets in all are spoken of in this chapter, and it is related how the enemies of every one of them were exterminated in the final triumph of the Truth. Yet to give an indication of the fate of the Prophet Muhammad’s opponents each prophet’s mention is ended with the two attributes of the Divine Being mentioned here, the Mighty, the Merciful, the first of these indicating that Truth will, even now, be made to overcome all opposition and the second that the dealing with the opponents of the Prophet would be a merciful dealing. The Prophet’s opponents were defeated indeed but they were not destroyed and a reformed people rose again to power.

The reference is to the killing of the Egyptian, as mentioned in 28:15. It is stated here that the people of Pharaoh charged Moses with a crime, not that he was actually guilty. See v. 20 and 28:15.

The circumstances in which Moses’ act of striking an Egyptian with his fist led to the death of the Egyptian are related in 28:15. There was no intention to kill the man, nor did Moses use any weapon with which death could be caused. The words “I was in error” (ḍāll) indicate one perplexed, being unable to know what was incumbent on him. He used his fist against the oppressor, and death was simply accidental.

The Israelites were employed only in menial work by Pharaoh and the Egyptians; it is this subjection to hardship which is here called enslavement.

The gods of the Egyptians were innumerable. There were abstract gods, cosmic gods, human gods and animal gods. Pharaoh’s claim to divinity among a people who were willing to deify anything has, therefore, nothing strange about it.

See 7:108 and 20:20, 20:22, and the footnotes there.

The pronoun them refers to gardens and springs, etc., in general, and not to the particular gardens, etc., from which the Egyptians were turned out. The heritage of gardens and treasures was given to the Israelites in the land of Canaan, the promised land flowing with milk and honey.

This expression is similar to the one occurring in 2:60: “March on to the rock with your staff”. Elsewhere the same idea is expressed by saying: “Strike for them a dry path in the sea, not fearing to be overtaken, nor being afraid” (20:77); see also 2:50.

The prophets, being always conscious of their weakness, seek Allah’s protection. Expressions like this invariably indicate human weakness before Divine perfection, and are not evidence of sinfulness. Compare Jesus’ confession of weakness in a similar strain: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (Matthew, 19:17).

The making manifest of hell shows that it already exists, but is hidden from the human eye, while on the day of Resurrection it will be made plain.

Wherever Noah is mentioned, only such of his people are spoken of as having been drowned who rejected and persecuted him; see also 11:42 footnote.

The word āyat, literally a sign, is used here to indicate the lofty building that should acquire renown as a sign of greatness. These lofty buildings were, no doubt, used to terrorize others, as v. 130 shows that acts of cruelty and violence were committed by Ād, while they considered themselves safe in their fortresses.

See 7:73 for Thamūd. They are described in v. 149 as carving houses out of the mountains, and, as it appears from here and 54:28, the springs of water seem to have been few, and access to these was probably specially guarded, so that they were open only at particular times. For the she-camel, see 7:73. Sālih seems to have demanded that the she-camel should be allowed to drink at such times. See 54:28, where it is stated that every share of the water will be attended by the she-camel, or that she will have access to water at all times when the others are allowed to drink. A similar demand as regards her pasture is contained in 11:64 in the words “Leave her to pasture on Allah’s earth”, followed by the same words as those following this demand for drink: “And do her no harm”.

See 7:80 for Lot. The old woman referred to here was Lot’s wife.

See 7:84. Stones were rained on them as the result of a volcanic eruption.

They are the same as the people of Midian.

A portion of the heaven signifies a punishment from heaven.

The demand for the threatened punishment is always met with expressions signifying that the matter rests in the hands of Allah. Such statements are really equivalent to saying that the thing will certainly come to pass.

The day of punishment is called the day of Covering because it covered them with punishment.

The Faithful Spirit (al-rūḥ al-amīn) is the angel Gabriel, who brought the Divine revelation to the Holy Prophet. The Prophet himself was known in Makkah as al-Amīn or the Faithful one before revelation came to him.

The words on your heart indicate that the Prophet’s heart, being the receptacle of the mighty revelation, was truly responsive to the great truths contained in it. The high morals and the broad humanitarian truths which the Quran contains give us a true picture of the great mind. This is referred to in one of the earliest revelations: “And surely you have sublime morals” (68:4). The pithy but most beautiful statement of Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, remains unsurpassed in depicting the character of the Holy Prophet. When asked about it she replied: His character is the Quran, meaning that all those wonderful pictures of moral sublimity drawn in the Quran were pictures of the noble mind to which the Quran was revealed.

The prophecies relating to the advent of the Prophet Muhammad, as met with in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, are referred to very often in the Quran. The statement made here is, however, more comprehensive: They are met with in all ancient scriptures. See 3:81, where a covenant is spoken of as being made through all the prophets of the world with regard to the Prophet’s advent. There is a reference in the next verse to the learned men of the Children of Israel in particular because the Jews and the Christians had long been in contact with the Arabs.

Because prophecy plainly showed that the Arabs were to be the recipients of the revelation; see Isaiah 42:11: “Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits.”. In the Old Testament, Kedar, the son of Ishmael, stands for the Arab nation. Hence earlier prophecy required that the final revelation should be granted to an Arab.

The meaning is that the Quran was made to enter into their hearts by reason of the convincing proof of its truth; but they rejected it, as the next verse shows.

The argument here is similar to that advanced by Jesus when he said: “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself” (Matthew, 12:26). The evil one cannot be the source of the Quran, for the Quran calls to righteousness. See also verses 221–223.

When this verse was revealed, the Holy Prophet, standing on Mount Safa, invited every tribe by name, and when the representatives of all the tribes had gathered together — among them being also the Quraish and that inveterate enemy of the Holy Prophet, Abu Lahab — the Holy Prophet thus addressed them: “Tell me, if I were to inform you that a great army in the valley lies in wait to make a raid upon you, would you believe me?” “Yes!” was the reply in one voice, “for we have never found anything but truth emanating from your lips.” “Then,” said the Prophet, “know that I am a warner to you of an approaching punishment.” “May you perish,” cried out the ill-tempered Abu Lahab, “was it for this that you called us together?” (Bukhari, 65.26:2).

The Prophet is here told to rely on the Mighty, the Merciful, the very words that are repeated at the end of almost every section of this chapter, thus showing that the fate of the opponents of former prophets was spoken of simply to warn his own opponents. The attribute of mightiness is used to indicate the power to punish the wicked, while mercy indicates the deliverance and triumph of the righteous, or a merciful dealing even with the opponents.

The subject of v. 212 is reverted to here. The opponents of the Quran would not listen to what is said in the Quran — they are far removed from hearing it, as stated in v. 212 — but they listen to what their leaders in evil say.

That is, they pursue an aimless course, while the Prophet has a set purpose before him, and it is to make people walk in the ways of righteousness.

The first suggestion of the disbelievers was that the Quran was the work of the devil. That being shown to be inconsistent with its very nature and with the righteousness it preached, they said that it was the work of a poet. As against this they are told that none of the characteristics of a poet’s work are to be met with in the Quran. The poet never leads his followers to a life of righteousness, while the Quran was bringing about a pure transformation in the lives of those who followed it. Again, the poets say things which they do not practise, whereas the Prophet was not only a preacher of righteousness, but also an exemplar who translated into practice what he taught in words. And the weightiest consideration of all is that the poets cannot utter prophecies like those which are met with in the Quran. It is to this that attention is called in the next verse.

The passage gives a description of the true believers in general, a new statement being introduced with illā (except); or it may refer particularly to the poets from among the believers.