Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:92
Those who denied Shu'ayb - it was as though they had never resided there. Those who denied Shu'ayb - it was they who were the losers.
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.
The explanation of His word: الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا شُعَيْبًا كَأَنْ لَمْ يَغْنَوْا فِيهَا الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا شُعَيْبًا كَانُوا هُمُ الْخَاسِرِينَ (92) ("Those who denied Shuʿayb, it was as though they had never dwelt therein; those who denied Shuʿayb, they were the ones who were the losers.") (7:92)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Thus He destroyed those who denied Shuʿayb and did not believe in him; He extirpated them, so that their town was abandoned and emptied of them = "it was as though they had never dwelt therein" — He says: as though they had never resided there and had never lived there, at the moment when they perished.
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One says: "ghaniya so-and-so in such-and-such place, he ghanā therein with a ghinan and ghuniyyan," when he settles somewhere and resides there, as the poet said:
And indeed, your neighbors used to dwell there, those who held fast to you with covenant and bond.
And Ruʾba said:
And the time of the dwelling (maghnā) of a ruin at Ḍalfaʿā.
It is a "mafʿal" form of "ghaniya."
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
14866 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us; he said: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "it was as though they had never dwelt therein": as though they had never lived there, as though they had never enjoyed prosperity there.
14867 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us; he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "it was as though they had never dwelt therein" — he says: as though they had never lived there.
14868 — Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "it was as though they had never dwelt therein": as though they had never been there.
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And His word: "those who denied Shuʿayb, they were the ones who were the losers" — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: it was not those who followed Shuʿayb who were the losers, but rather it was those who denied him who were the losers, the perished. For He — exalted be His praise — has informed about them: that those who denied Shuʿayb said to those who wished to follow him: لَئِنِ اتَّبَعْتُمْ شُعَيْبًا إِنَّكُمْ إِذًا لَخَاسِرُونَ ("If you follow Shuʿayb, then you will surely be among the losers"). Then Allah belied them through what He brought down upon them of immediate punishment, and then said to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: the followers of Shuʿayb did not lose, but rather it was those who denied Shuʿayb — when the punishment of Allah came — who were the losers, and not those who held him to be truthful and believed in him.
