Tafseer of The Poets · Ash-Shu'araa · 26:56
And indeed, we are a cautious society... "
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.
As for the words وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ (And indeed, we are an armed multitude): the Qurʾān reciters differed over its reading. Most of the reciters of Kūfa read وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ (ḥādhirūn), with the meaning that they are prepared, equipped, and in possession of weaponry and strength. Most of the reciters of Medina and Basra read it as "wa-innā la-jamīʿun ḥadhirūn" without an alif. Al-Farrāʾ used to say: it is as though the ḥādhir is the one who is on his guard at the present moment, whereas the ḥadhir is the one who is by nature created cautious and is never found otherwise than cautious. Concerning the ḥadhir, Ibn Aḥmar also speaks:
"Will a day ever be deferred for me until another? Indeed, I am a man of precaution, and I am watchful."
The correct view concerning this is that both readings are widely current among the reciters of the various lands, and that they are close to one another in meaning. With whichever of the two a reciter recites, he does not miss what is correct.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this in the interpretation, the scholars of interpretation also spoke.
* Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: I heard al-Aswad ibn Zayd recite the reading وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ (ḥādhirūn); he said: "Fully equipped and furnished with weaponry."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Abū al-ʿArjāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim — that he recited the reading وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ (ḥādhirūn) and said: "Fully furnished with weaponry."
Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning the words وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ: he said: "On our guard" — he said: "We have united our affair."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ — he said: "Equipped and ready with weaponry and horses."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me — Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Qays — who said: "With Pharaoh there were six hundred thousand black stallions, apart from the other colors of horses."
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Muʿādh al-Ḍabbī related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdala, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — that he read it as وَإِنَّا لَجَمِيعٌ حَاذِرُونَ (ḥādhirūn) — he said: "Fully equipped and furnished with weaponry."
