Surah Shuara ayat 155 Tafsir Quran 26:155

﴿قَالَ هَٰذِهِ نَاقَةٌ لَّهَا شِرْبٌ وَلَكُمْ شِرْبُ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ﴾
[ الشعراء: 155]

26:155 He said, "This is a she-camel. For her is a [time of] drink, and for you is a [time of] drink, [each] on a known day.

He said ‘This is a she-camel; she shall drink a share of the water and you shall drink each on a known day.

This, he said, is a she-camel which is entitled to a share of the drinking water just as you are entitled to a share. She is to have her share on a certain day and you have yours on an alternate day

The Response of Thamud, Their Demand for a Sign, and Their Punishment Allah tells us how Thamud responded to their Prophet Salih, upon him be peace, when he called them to worship their Lord, may He be glorified. قَالُواْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مِنَ الْمُسَحَّرِينَ ( They said: "You are only of those bewitched!" ) Mujahid said, "They meant he was one affected by witchcraft." Then they said: مَآ أَنتَ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا ( You are but a human being like us. ) meaning, `how can you receive Revelation when we do not' This is like the Ayah where they are described as saying: أَءُلْقِىَ الذِّكْرُ عَلَيْهِ مِن بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُوَ كَذَّابٌ أَشِرٌ - سَيَعْلَمُونَ غَداً مَّنِ الْكَذَّابُ الاٌّشِرُ ( "Is it that the Reminder is sent to him alone from among us Nay, he is an insolent liar!" Tomorrow they will come to know who is the liar, the insolent one! ) ( 54:26-27 ) Then they asked him for a sign to prove that what he brought to them from their Lord was the truth.
A crowd of them gathered and demanded that he immediately bring forth from the rock a she-camel that was ten months pregnant, and they pointed to a certain rock in their midst.
Allah's Prophet Salih made them promise that if he responded to their request, they would believe in him and follow him.
So they agreed to that.
The Prophet of Allah Salih, peace be upon him, stood and prayed, then he prayed to Allah to grant them their request.
Then the rock to which they had pointed split open, revealing a she-camel that was ten months pregnant, excactly as they had requested.
So some of them believed, but most of them disbelieved. قَالَ هَـذِهِ نَاقَةٌ لَّهَا شِرْبٌ وَلَكُمْ شِرْبُ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ ( He said: "Here is a she-camel: it has a right to drink (water ), and you have a right to drink ( water ) ( each ) on a day, known.) meaning, `she will drink from your water one day, and on the next day you will drink from it.' وَلاَ تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ ( And touch her not with harm, lest the torment of a Great Day should seize you. ) He warned them of the punishment of Allah if they should do her any harm.
The she-camel stayed among them for a while, drinking the water, eating leaves and grazing, and they benefitted from her milk which they took in sufficient quantities for every one to drink his fill.
After this had gone on for a long time, and the time for their destruction drew near, they conspired to kill her: فَعَقَرُوهَا فَأَصْبَحُواْ نَـدِمِينَ فَأَخَذَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ ( But they killed her, and then they became regretful.
So, the torment overtook them. ) Their land was shaken by a strong earthquake, and there came to them an overwhelming Sayhah ( shout ) which took their hearts from their places.
They were overtaken by events which they were not expecting, so they were left ( dead ), lying prostrate in their homes. إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لأَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ ( Verily, in this is indeed a sign, yet most of them are not believers.
And verily your Lord, He is indeed the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. )

(26:155) Salih. said, "Here is a she-camel. *103 One day will be for her to drink, and one day for you all to take water. *104

He said, "This is a she-camel. For meaning

*103) From the context it appears that it was not a common she-camel, but it was brought about in a supernatural manner because it was presented in response to the demand for a miracle.
Prophet Salih.
could not have produced before the people an ordinary she-camel as a proof of his Prophethood because that would not have satisfied them.
Ai other places in the Qur'an it has been clearly referred to as a miracle.
In Surah Al-A`raf and Hud it has been said: " ....here is Allah's she camel, a Sign for you. " ( VII: 73 ) In Surah Bani Isra'il the same thing has been stated more emphatically: " And nothing has hindered Us from sending Signs except that the former people refused to acknowledge them as such.
( For example ) We sent the she-camel as an open Sign to Thamud but they treated her with cruelty; whereas We send Signs only by way of warning. " ( v.
59 ) Moreover, the challenge given to the wicked people of Thamud, after presenting the she-camel before them, was such that it could only be given after presenting a miracle.

*104) That is, " One day the she-camel will drink water all alone at your wells and springs, and one day you and your animals will take water, and this arrangement will not be violated in any way. " There could hardly be a greater challenge for the people of Arabia, for taking of water had been the foremost cause of feuds and fights among them, which mostly resulted in bloodshed, even loss of life.
As such, the challenge given by Prophet Salih was indeed a challenge to the whole nation, which could not be acceptable unless the people were sure that the challenger had a great power at his back.
But Prophet Salih threw this challenge all by himself without any worldly power behind him, and the whole nation not only received it quietly, but also abided by it submissively for quite some days.
In Surahs Al-A`raf and Hud there is an addition to this: " Here is Allah's she-camel, a Sign for you.
So let her graze at will in Allah's land, and do not touch her with an evil intention. " ( XI: 64 ) That is, the challenge was not only this that the she-camel would drink water all alone every alternate day, but, in addition, she would freely move about and graze at will in their fields and gardens and palm groves and pastures and was not to be touched with an evil intention.

 

The Response of Thamud, Their Demand for a Sign, and Their Punishment Allah tells us how Thamud responded to their Prophet Salih, upon him be peace, when he called them to worship their Lord, may He be glorified. قَالُواْ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مِنَ الْمُسَحَّرِينَ ( They said: "You are only of those bewitched!" ) Mujahid said, "They meant he was one affected by witchcraft." Then they said: مَآ أَنتَ إِلاَّ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُنَا ( You are but a human being like us. ) meaning, `how can you receive Revelation when we do not' This is like the Ayah where they are described as saying: أَءُلْقِىَ الذِّكْرُ عَلَيْهِ مِن بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُوَ كَذَّابٌ أَشِرٌ - سَيَعْلَمُونَ غَداً مَّنِ الْكَذَّابُ الاٌّشِرُ ( "Is it that the Reminder is sent to him alone from among us Nay, he is an insolent liar!" Tomorrow they will come to know who is the liar, the insolent one! ) ( 54:26-27 ) Then they asked him for a sign to prove that what he brought to them from their Lord was the truth.
A crowd of them gathered and demanded that he immediately bring forth from the rock a she-camel that was ten months pregnant, and they pointed to a certain rock in their midst.
Allah's Prophet Salih made them promise that if he responded to their request, they would believe in him and follow him.
So they agreed to that.
The Prophet of Allah Salih, peace be upon him, stood and prayed, then he prayed to Allah to grant them their request.
Then the rock to which they had pointed split open, revealing a she-camel that was ten months pregnant, excactly as they had requested.
So some of them believed, but most of them disbelieved. قَالَ هَـذِهِ نَاقَةٌ لَّهَا شِرْبٌ وَلَكُمْ شِرْبُ يَوْمٍ مَّعْلُومٍ ( He said: "Here is a she-camel: it has a right to drink (water ), and you have a right to drink ( water ) ( each ) on a day, known.) meaning, `she will drink from your water one day, and on the next day you will drink from it.' وَلاَ تَمَسُّوهَا بِسُوءٍ فَيَأْخُذَكُمْ عَذَابُ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ ( And touch her not with harm, lest the torment of a Great Day should seize you. ) He warned them of the punishment of Allah if they should do her any harm.
The she-camel stayed among them for a while, drinking the water, eating leaves and grazing, and they benefitted from her milk which they took in sufficient quantities for every one to drink his fill.
After this had gone on for a long time, and the time for their destruction drew near, they conspired to kill her: فَعَقَرُوهَا فَأَصْبَحُواْ نَـدِمِينَ فَأَخَذَهُمُ الْعَذَابُ ( But they killed her, and then they became regretful.
So, the torment overtook them. ) Their land was shaken by a strong earthquake, and there came to them an overwhelming Sayhah ( shout ) which took their hearts from their places.
They were overtaken by events which they were not expecting, so they were left ( dead ), lying prostrate in their homes. إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لأَيَةً وَمَا كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ ( Verily, in this is indeed a sign, yet most of them are not believers.
And verily your Lord, He is indeed the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful. )

( He said ) Salih said to them: ( (Behold ) this she-camel) she is a sign that I am sent as a prophet to you. ( She hath the right to drink (at the well )) one day, ( and ye have the right to drink ) another day, ( (each ) on an appointed day) i.e. in alternate days: one day for you and one day for her.

He said: "Here is a she-camel; it has a right to drink (water), and you have a right to drink (water) (each) on a day, known.

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