وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا شُعَيْبًا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنَّا وَأَخَذَتِ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ ٱلصَّيْحَةُ فَأَصْبَحُوا۟ فِى دِيَـٰرِهِمْ جَـٰثِمِينَ 94
Translations
And when Our command came, We saved Shuʿayb and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us. And the shriek seized those who had wronged, and they became within their homes [corpses] fallen prone
Transliteration
Wa-lammā jāʾa amrunā najjaynā Shuʿaybān wa-alladhīna āmanū maʿahu bi-raḥmatin minnā wa-akhdhatti alladhīna ẓalamū al-ṣīḥatu fa-aṣbaḥū fī diyārihim jāthimīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes the culmination of Allah's judgment against the people of Madyan (Midian) who rejected the prophet Shu'ayb. When Allah's command came, He rescued Shu'ayb and the believers with His mercy, while the wrongdoers were seized by a mighty blast (al-ṣīḥah) that destroyed them, leaving them dead in their homes. Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi note that this blast was a form of divine punishment that annihilated the disbelievers, demonstrating Allah's perfect justice in delivering the righteous and punishing those who persisted in oppression and rejection of truth.
Revelation Context
This ayah concludes the narrative of Shu'ayb and his people within Surah Hud, which presents multiple prophetic accounts of divine judgment. The context follows Shu'ayb's warnings against fraud in commerce and his call to monotheism, showing the pattern throughout the surah where those who believe are saved while the arrogant face destruction.
Related Hadiths
While no specific hadith directly quotes this verse, Surah Hud's narratives are referenced in Sahih Muslim (Kitab al-Iman) regarding the prophets and their nations. The concept of al-ṣīḥah (the blast) as a punishment appears in multiple surahs and is discussed in various hadith collections regarding divine punishments.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reassures believers that Allah's mercy protects those who have faith even amid widespread corruption, while it warns against the certainty of divine punishment for persistent wrongdoing and arrogance. For modern readers, it emphasizes that standing with truth and righteousness, however lonely the path may seem, leads to salvation, while material prosperity gained through fraud and oppression inevitably leads to ruin.
Related Ayahs
أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ كَانُوٓا۟ أَكْثَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ قُوَّةً وَءَاثَارًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَمَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ
Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them? They were more numerous than themselves and greater in strength and in impression on the land, but they were not availed by what they used to earn.
فَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا صَـٰلِحًا وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ بِرَحْمَةٍ مِّنَّا وَمِنْ خِزْىِ يَوْمِئِذٍ ۗ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ ٱلْقَوِىُّ ٱلْعَزِيزُ
So when Our command came, We saved Ṣāliḥ and those who believed with him, by mercy from Us, and [saved them] from the disgrace of that day. Indeed, it is your Lord who is the Powerful, the Exalted in Might.
وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ فِى ٱلنَّارِ لِخَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ ٱدْعُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْمًا مِّنَ ٱلْعَذَابِ
And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, "Supplicate your Lord to lighten for us a day from the punishment."
قَالَ فَٱذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ أَن تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ ۖ وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَّن تُخْلَفَهُۥ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰٓ إِلَـٰهِكَ ٱلَّذِى ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا ۖ لَّنُحَرِّقَنَّهُۥ ثُمَّ لَنَنسِفَنَّهُۥ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ نَسْفًا
[Moses] said, "Then go. And indeed, it is [decreed] for you in [this] life to say, 'No contact.' And indeed, you have an appointment [in the Hereafter] you will not fail to keep. And look at your 'god' to which you remained devoted. We will surely burn it and blow it [i.e., its ashes] into the sea with a blast.