Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:129
And take for yourselves palaces and fortresses that you might abide eternally?
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَتَتَّخِذُونَ مَصَانِعَ (and you take strong structures): he said: "Lofty palaces and durable buildings."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: مَصَانِعَ — "Lofty palaces and buildings."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said concerning مَصَانِعَ : "Fortresses and palaces."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ḥassān informed us, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word مَصَانِعَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَخْلُدُونَ (strong structures, that perhaps you may live forever): he said: "Dovecotes."
And others said: they are water reservoirs.
— Mention of those who said this:
Al-Ḥasan related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word مَصَانِعَ : he said: "Water reservoirs."
Abū Jaʿfar says: The correct view on this matter is to say: "maṣāniʿ" is the plural of "maṣnaʿa," and the Arabs call every structure a "maṣnaʿa." It is possible that these structures were lofty palaces and fortresses, and it is possible that they were water reservoirs. There is no transmitted report that removes the doubt as to which of these two it was, nor is it something that can be known by way of reason. The correct thing is therefore to say what Allah has said: that they took for themselves strong structures.
And His word لَعَلَّكُمْ تَخْلُدُونَ (that perhaps you may live forever): that is to say, as though you will live forever and remain on the earth eternally.
In accordance with what we have said, the exegetes spoke.
— Mention of those who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word لَعَلَّكُمْ تَخْلُدُونَ : he said: "As though you will live forever."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: he said: in some readings وَتَتَّخِذُونَ مَصَانِعَ reads as: "as though you will live forever."
And Ibn Zayd used to say: "laʿallakum" (لعلكم) here is an interrogative form.
— Mention of those who said this:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَتَتَّخِذُونَ مَصَانِعَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَخْلُدُونَ : he said: "This is an interrogative form; he says: would you perhaps live forever when you build these things?"
And some of the grammarians claimed that "laʿallakum" in this place has the meaning of "so that" (kaymā).
