Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:48
And there were in the city nine family heads causing corruption in the land and not amending [its affairs].
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, exalted is His remembrance, says: in the city of Ṣāliḥ — that is, the Ḥijr of Thamūd — there were nine persons who spread corruption on the earth and did nothing good. Their spreading of corruption on the earth was their disbelief in Allah and their disobedience to Him. Allah, exalted is His praise, mentioned these nine persons in particular — that they spread corruption on the earth and did nothing good — even though the entire disbelieving community spreads corruption on the earth, because it was these nine who, according to what has reached us, took counsel together over the hamstringing of the she-camel and cooperated to that end and pledged to one another upon the killing of Ṣāliḥ, being singled out above the rest of the people of Thamūd. We have already mentioned their stories and reports earlier in this our book.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
*Mention of who said that:*
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 of them together — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: تِسْعَةُ رَهْطٍ ('nine persons'): he said: of the people of Ṣāliḥ.
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, to the same effect.
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, his words وَكَانَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ تِسْعَةُ رَهْطٍ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الأرْضِ وَلا يُصْلِحُونَ: they are those who hamstrung the she-camel, and who — when they had hamstrung her — said: we shall fall upon Ṣāliḥ and his family by night and kill them; then we shall say to the kinsfolk of Ṣāliḥ: we witnessed nothing of all this and know nothing of it. Allah destroyed them all.
