Appearance
Verses 65–72
وَ إِلى عادٍ أَخاهُمْ هُوداً قالَ يا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ ما لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلهٍ غَيْرُهُ أَ فَلا تَتَّقُونَ ٦٥ قالَ الْمَلَأُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ قَوْمِهِ إِنَّا لَنَراكَ فِي سَفاهَةٍ وَ إِنَّا لَنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ الْكاذِبِينَ ٦٦ قالَ يا قَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِي سَفاهَةٌ وَ لكِنِّي رَسُولٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعالَمِينَ ٦٧ أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِسالاتِ رَبِّي وَ أَنَا لَكُمْ ناصِحٌ أَمِينٌ ٦٨ أَ وَ عَجِبْتُمْ أَنْ جاءَكُمْ ذِكْرٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ عَلى رَجُلٍ مِنْكُمْ لِيُنْذِرَكُمْ وَ اذْكُرُوا إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفاءَ مِنْ بَعْدِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَ زادَكُمْ فِي الْخَلْقِ بَصْطَةً فَاذْكُرُوا آلاءَ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ٦٩ قالُوا أَ جِئْتَنا لِنَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ وَحْدَهُ وَ نَذَرَ ما كانَ يَعْبُدُ آباؤُنا فَأْتِنا بِما تَعِدُنا إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ٧٠ قالَ قَدْ وَقَعَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ رِجْسٌ وَ غَضَبٌ أَ تُجادِلُونَنِي فِي أَسْماءٍ سَمَّيْتُمُوها أَنْتُمْ وَ آباؤُكُمْ ما نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِنْ سُلْطانٍ فَانْتَظِرُوا إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الْمُنْتَظِرِينَ ٧١ فَأَنْجَيْناهُ وَ الَّذِينَ مَعَهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِنَّا وَ قَطَعْنا دابِرَ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآياتِنا وَ ما كانُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ ٧٢
- And to [the people of] ʿĀd, Hūd, their brother. He said, “O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. Will you not then be wary [of Him]?”
- The 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.”
- He said, “O my people, I am not in folly. Rather, I am a messenger from the Lord of all nations.
- I communicate to you the messages of my Lord and I am a trustworthy well-wisher for you.
- Do you consider it odd that there should come to you a reminder from your Lord through a man from among yourselves, so that he may warn you? Remember when He made you successors after the people of Noah, and increased you vastly in creation. So remember Allah’s bounties so that you may be felicitous.”
- They said, “Have you come to [tell] us that we should worship Allah alone and abandon what our fathers have been worshiping? Then bring us what you threaten us with, should you be truthful.”
- He said, “There has become due against you a punishment and wrath from your Lord. Do you dispute with me regarding names which you have named—you and your fathers—for which Allah has not sent down any authority? So wait! I too am waiting along with you.”
- Then We delivered him and those who were with him by a mercy from Us, and We cut off the end of those who denied Our signs and were not faithful.
Commentary
وَ إِلى عادٍ أَخاهُمْ هُوداً قالَ يا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ ما لَكُمْ مِنْ إِلهٍ غَيْرُهُ أَ فَلا تَتَّقُونَ٦٥
(7:65) And to [the people of] ʿĀd, Hūd, their brother. He said, “O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him. Will you not then be wary [of Him]?”
One’s “brother” (akh, which is originally akhū) is one who shares the same birthrights as the person. This can come in a few ways: (1) It can be biological, through sharing either or both parents. (2) It can be legislated by religious, such as the law of “brother by fosterage” (al-akh al-riḍāʿī). (3) It can be through a social norm, as some communities had “adopted brothers.” This is the origin of the term. However, it is used metaphorically to indicate any relationship between one and one’s people, country, profession, trait, and so on. For example it is said, “the brother of Banū Tamīm,” “the brother of Yathrib,” “the brother of weaving” and “the brother of generosity” [all designated by akhū…]. This is what is meant when the verse says: And to [the people of] ʿĀd, Hūd, their brother.
… He said, “O my people, worship Allah! You have no other god besides Him…”: This is similar to what we saw in the previous story. There is a subtle difference though: The verse in Noah’s story was, And he said (fa-qāla)… (), using the letter fāʾ (and, so, then) as a conjunction; but here the verse does not use any conjunction. The reason is that in this verse, when the audience hears the first sentence—And to [the people of] ʿĀd, Hūd, their brother—it is expected to ask, “What did Hūd say?” Thus the next part of the verse is an answer to this expected question: He said, “O my people, worship Allah…” This is what al-Zamakhsharī says in al-Kashshāf.
To clarify this further, we should add that the same expectation does not exist in Noah’s story, because that is the first story in the series. Based on that story, the audience realizes the general pattern of all these accounts: there is a messenger who calls his people to his message, where his people may either reject or accept him. Having learnt the first story, when the second story is introduced to the audience—that And to [the people of] ʿĀd, Hūd, their brother—it would naturally ask, “What did Hūd tell his people?” The answer is: He said, “O my people….”
قالَ الْمَلَأُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ قَوْمِهِ إِنَّا لَنَراكَ فِي سَفاهَةٍ وَ إِنَّا لَنَظُنُّكَ مِنَ الْكاذِبِينَ٦٦
(7:66) The 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.”
The verse specifies a subset of The elite of his people by adding the qualification: who were faithless. This shows that some of the elite among his people believed in God but concealed their faith. There was no such group in Noah’s people, and that is why we did not encounter this qualification above: The elite of his people said… (). This is al-Zamakhsharī’s view.
… Indeed we see you to be in folly (safāhah), and indeed we consider you to be a liar: This sentence includes several emphases, which show that they were not anticipating anyone to say what he said. Their idols had captured their hearts, and the custom of idol-worship was so established among them that no one dared to criticize it. That is why they were shocked by Hūd’s message. They rejected him purely based on surprise and unlikelihood. They accused him of safāhah (foolishness), meaning lack of intelligence, which results in having wrong views. Then they added that they seriously speculated that he was one of the liars. Apparently by “liars” they meant the [other divine] prophets, because they did not believe in prophethood. His people had received prophets prior to Hūd, as God says: Such were [the people of] ʿĀd: they impugned the signs of their Lord and disobeyed His messengers, and followed the dictates of every obdurate tyrant ().
قالَ يا قَوْمِ لَيْسَ بِي سَفاهَةٌ وَ لكِنِّي رَسُولٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعالَمِينَ ٦٧
(7:67) He said, “O my people, I am not in folly. Rather, I am a messenger from the Lord of all nations.
This is similar to what we read in the story of Noah []. A difference here is that his people—ʿĀd—where more impudent than Noah’s, because Noah’s people accused him of error in view (ḍalāl fī al-raʾy), while ʿĀd accused Hūd of folly (safāhah). Nevertheless, Hūd maintained the dignity, courtesy and manners that befit a prophet of God in his divine mission. He addressed them by ascribing them to himself: O my people, which shows his compassion toward them and his eagerness to save them.
… I am not in folly. Rather, I am a messenger from the Lord of all nations: Like Noah, Hūd simply denied their accusation, and instead affirmed his messengership without any emphasis. This is based on his claim being very clear.
أُبَلِّغُكُمْ رِسالاتِ رَبِّي وَ أَنَا لَكُمْ ناصِحٌ أَمِينٌ ٦٨
(7:68) I communicate to you the messages of my Lord and I am a trustworthy well-wisher for you.
That is: Since I am a messenger, my job is only to convey the messages of my Lord to you. Hūd described himself as amīn (trustworthy) in response to their accusation that: indeed we consider you to be a liar (). It means: “I have not disrespected or violated any of your rights.” He also described himself as nāṣiḥ (well-wisher, sincere advisor), which implies the following ideas: (1) “I am completely pure and exempt (khāliṣ) from the charge of being a liar, which you entertain about me.” (2) “I am not deceitful (ghāshsh) in what I am preaching to you.” (3) “I have not been disloyal (khāʾin) with the true message which I have received. Rather, I am calling you to monotheism because I can see that it is the religion of truth, and in it lies your good and benefit.”
أَ وَ عَجِبْتُمْ أَنْ جاءَكُمْ ذِكْرٌ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ عَلى رَجُلٍ مِنْكُمْ لِيُنْذِرَكُمْ وَ اذْكُرُوا إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفاءَ مِنْ بَعْدِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَ زادَكُمْ فِي الْخَلْقِ بَصْطَةً فَاذْكُرُوا آلاءَ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ٦٩
(7:69) Do you consider it odd that there should come to you a reminder from your Lord through a man from among yourselves, so that he may warn you? Remember when He made you successors after the people of Noah, and increased you vastly (baṣṭah) in creation. So remember Allah’s bounties (ālāʾ) so that you may be felicitous.”
Baṣṭah is the same as basṭah (extension, expansion, increase, growth). The letter sīn is converted to ṣād because of its adjacency to the letter ṭāʾ [which has greater affinity with ṣād than with sīn]. Sīn is one of ḥurūf al-iṭbāq (letters of conformity); another example of its conformity [with its adjacent letters] is the word ṣirāṭ (Bridge), which was originally sirāṭ. Ālāʾ is the plural of aly and ily, which mean niʿmah (bounty, blessing, boon). Ālāʾ is similar in construction to ānāʾ, which is the plural of any and iny (time, period, duration).
In the first part of the verse, Hūd repudiates his people for doubting his claim to messengership, as we saw in the story of Noah []. Then he reminds them of God’s bounties upon them, and specifically points out two manifest blessings among them: (1) God made them successors on the earth after the people of Noah. (2) Among all nations, God especially privileged them by expanding and growing their creation physically, which entails greater strength and capability. This shows that ʿĀd was a civilization which preceded the other civilizations [after Noah], and was known for great power and might. Then he referred to the rest of God’s blessings by saying: So remember Allah’s bounties (ālāʾ) so that you may be felicitous.
قالُوا أَ جِئْتَنا لِنَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ وَحْدَهُ وَ نَذَرَ ما كانَ يَعْبُدُ آباؤُنا فَأْتِنا بِما تَعِدُنا إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ ٧٠
(7:70) They said, “Have you come to [tell] us that we should worship Allah alone and abandon what our fathers have been worshiping? Then bring us what you threaten us with, should you be truthful.”
Their response here shows that they were committed to following their forefathers. They challenged Hūd to bring the punishment that he was threatening them with. This implies mocking and derision.
قالَ قَدْ وَقَعَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ رِجْسٌ وَ غَضَبٌ أَ تُجادِلُونَنِي فِي أَسْماءٍ سَمَّيْتُمُوها أَنْتُمْ وَ آباؤُكُمْ ما نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِنْ سُلْطانٍ فَانْتَظِرُوا إِنِّي مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الْمُنْتَظِرِينَ ٧١
(7:71) He said, “There has become due against you a punishment (rijs) and wrath from your Lord. Do you dispute with me regarding names which you have named—you and your fathers—for which Allah has not sent down any authority? So wait! I too am waiting along with you.”
Rijs and rijz signify either an event or an object that if something is affected by it, that thing has to be taken away, or people keep away from it. Thus the two terms are used for “filth,” because one keeps away from it in dislike. They are also used for “punishment,” because one who is punished is distanced from one who punishes him, or from other people who are secure from the punishment. Hūd told his people that due to their insistence on the way of their fathers to worship the idols, they are subject to God’s punishment and wrath, which distance them from Him.
… So wait! I too am waiting along with you: Here Hūd threatens them with the punishment that they were pushing for, and tells them that it shall certainly overtake them. He expressed his threat indirectly, by ordering them to wait, and informing them that he too shall wait for the coming of God’s punishment.
… Do you dispute with me regarding names which you have named—you and your fathers—for which Allah has not sent down any authority (sulṭān)? …: Here Hūd refutes their argument for worshiping their gods. Their argument was: (a) They found their fathers worshiping these gods. (b) Their fathers were certainly more perfect than them and others at their level, such as Hūd. (c) Hence, they must follow their fathers.
Sulṭān (authority, dominion) means decisive proof and argument (burhān, ḥujjah). Hūd’s answer can be elaborated as follows: “You and your fathers are the same in that you all claim something for which there is no proof, and that is the divinity of your gods. Hence, what remains of their divinity is only an empty name and title which you have attached to these gods, where you call them ‘the god of fertility,’ ‘the god of war,’ ‘the god of sea’ and ‘the god of land.’ These labels do not correspond to any reality except in your imagination. So do you dispute with me concerning mere names? As long as one is not concerned with the external existence and realization of a meaning, they can apply any name that they want to anything that they wish.”
… names which you have named—you and your fathers—for which Allah has not sent down any authority…: This expression is repeated in several places in the Qur’an, when arguing against idolatry. It is a very delicate expression, a clear argument, and a decisive proof. It says that if one does not provide a rational argument for what one claims, then what remains of it will be only a label and appellation. It is rather a clear form of ignorance if one relies on such appellations as a basis [for their worldview or their everyday practice].
The same can be said about all cases where one relies on any means other than God. If we analyze all cases when one gets attached to something or someone as an independent entity, obeys it, and seeks to gain favor with it, we will observe the same scenario. Indeed, there are several places in the Qur’an where God counts obedience and reliance as forms of ʿibadah (worship, service). For example He says: Did I not make a covenant with you, O children of Adam, saying, “Do not worship Satan. He is indeed your manifest enemy. But worship Me; that is a straight path”? ().
فَأَنْجَيْناهُ وَ الَّذِينَ مَعَهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِنَّا وَ قَطَعْنا دابِرَ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآياتِنا وَ ما كانُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ ٧٢
(7:72) Then We delivered him and those who were with him by a mercy from Us, and We cut off the end of those who denied Our signs and were not faithful.
The word “mercy” is in the indefinite form (nakirah), which means a specific kind (nawʿ) of mercy. That is God’s special mercy for the believers, whereby He helps them in accordance to His promise. He says: Indeed We shall help Our messengers and those who have faith in the life of the world and on the day when the witnesses rise up (); and it was a must for Us to help the faithful ().
… and We cut off the end (dābir) of those who denied Our signs…: This refers to destroying them and uprooting their lineage. The dābir (end, tail, remnant) of something is “something that is behind it.” Sometimes it is used for what comes before something, as yesterday is called ams al-dābir (the “last day” which turned away). And sometimes it is used for what comes after something, as the last members of a group are called dābir al-qawm. One’s future generation comes “after” him, and killing the person means “disconnecting” this link. That is why the verse describes their extermination by saying: We cut off the end. We shall discuss the story of Hūd elaborately in our exposition of Sūrah Hūd [under verses ], by God’s will.
Also see verse . (Trans.) ↩︎
Noah’s people said, “You are a thinker; you have some views; but your views are wrong.” Hūd’s people said, “You are a fool; you have no intellectual capacity to begin with.” (Trans.) ↩︎
The words in brackets are the opposites of nāṣiḥ. The author has used them in order to clarify the meaning of nāṣiḥ by contrast. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, any plans that we rely on, any strategies that we employ, any means or connections that we hope to help us, and any goal that we attach our hearts to—they are all empty shells that are devoid of any real impact in and of themselves. They are at best channels through which God’s grace flows. Those who are short-sighted only see the apparent cover on the surface, and take it to be a genuine cause at work in the world. But that is merely an empty label that is being applied to what is only an expression and reflection of God’s work. This means that sulṭān (authority, proof, dominion) in this verse can also be interpreted in a takwīnī (creational, causal, existential) sense. God has not given creational authority to these apparent means and instruments to effect change in the universe and fulfill one’s need. (Trans.) ↩︎