Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:149
And you carve out of the mountains, homes, with skill.
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.
His word: وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ — Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: and you carve out houses from the mountains, fārihīn.
The Qurʾān reciters differed concerning the reading of the word fārihīn. The majority of the reciters of Kūfa read it as fārihīna — with the meaning: skilled in carving them out. The majority of the reciters of Medina and Baṣra read it as farihīna — without an alif — with the meaning: insolent and exultant.
The exegetes differed accordingly in their interpretation, in keeping with the difference of the reciters in their reading. Some said: the meaning of fārihīna is: skilled.
Those who said this are mentioned here:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthām related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ and ʿAbdallāh ibn Shaddād: وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ — one of them said: skilled ones, and the other said: they exalt themselves above others.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Marwān related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid informed us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ — he said: skilled in carving them out.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning فارهين : he said: skilled ones.
Others said: the meaning of fārihīna is: boastful and proud.
Those who said this are mentioned here:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Shaddād, concerning فَرِهِينَ : he said: they exalt themselves above others.
Abū Jaʿfar said: the correct reading is fārihīna.
Others who read it as fārihīna said: the meaning of this is: clever ones.
Those who said this are mentioned here:
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning فارهين : clever ones.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who read it as fārihīna and said: clever ones.
Others said: farihīna means: insolent.
Those who said this are mentioned here:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ : he said: insolent ones; and it is also said: clever ones.
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 بيوتا فرهين : he said: covetous, greedy.
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 — the same.
Others said: the meaning of this is: strong ones.
Those who said this are mentioned here:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَرِهِينَ : al-farah means the strong one.
And others said concerning this what al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَرِهِينَ : he said: full of admiration for your own handiwork.
The most correct opinion concerning this is to say: both the reading of the one who read it as fārihīna and the reading of the one who read it as farihīna are well-known readings, widespread among the scholars of the reciters. Whichever of the two readings one reads, one reads correctly. The meaning of the reading of the one who read it as fārihīna is: skilled in carving them out, selecting the best places for that, clever people, derived from al-farāha (dexterity). The meaning of the reading of the one who read it as farihīna is: joyful and insolent. It is possible that the meaning of fārihu and farihu is one and the same, such that fārihu is built upon its morphological pattern with its root-form from the verb faʿala yafʿulu, while farihu is an adjective, as one says: so-and-so is skilled (ḥādhiq) in this matter and skill (ḥadhaqa). As for the meaning of al-fārihu in the sense of the joyful one, see the verse of the poet ʿAdī ibn Wādiʿ al-ʿAwfī of al-Azd:
I do not give up when a drought strikes me, and I shall not be seen prospering with a covetous striving.
