Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:176
The companions of the thicket denied the messengers
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.
Allah, the Exalted, says: كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الأيْكَةِ (The dwellers of al-Ayka (the dense thicket) gave the lie). Al-ayka means: densely growing trees. It is the singular of al-ayk, and among the Arabs every cluster of densely standing trees is called an ayka. In line with this is the saying of al-Nābigha of the Banū Dhibyān:
"She cleanses, with the wing-feathers of the dove of an ayka, Cool water, while her teeth are polished with ithmid (antimony)."
The dwellers of al-Ayka are, as is reported, the people of Madyan.
Mention of those who said this:
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 the saying: كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الأيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ — he said: "The dwellers of the marsh-thickets (al-ghayḍa)."
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 the saying: كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الأيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ — he said: "Al-ayka is a cluster of trees."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning the saying: كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الأيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ — he said: "The people of Madyan; al-ayka are densely standing trees."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the saying: كَذَّبَ أَصْحَابُ الأيْكَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ — he said: "Al-ayka are trees; Allah sent Shuʿayb to his people from the people of Madyan and to the dwellers of the open land — he said: and they are the dwellers of Layka, for Layka and al-Ayka are one and the same."
[There then follows in this section the exposition of the verse:] وَاتَّقُوا الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالْجِبِلَّةَ الأَوَّلِينَ (184) قَالُوا إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مِنَ الْمُسَحَّرِينَ (185) وَمَا أَنْتَ إِلا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُنَا وَإِنْ نَظُنُّكَ لَمِنَ الْكَاذِبِينَ (186) فَأَسْقِطْ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِنْ كُنْتَ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ (187)