Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 138 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:138

وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُعَذَّبِينَ

“And we are not to be punished."”

Saheeh International

Essence

ʿAd's last word is a declaration of immunity: we are simply not the kind of people who get punished.

A reflection

The same words in three mouths

The exact words wa mā naḥnu bi-muʿadhdhabīn, and we are not to be punished, occur three times in the Quran. Each time they are spoken by a different group. Together they tell a whole story.

First, here: ʿAd, at the height of their power, after a prophet's long warning.

Second, in Surah Saba. Allah says He never sent a warner to a town without its affluent ones rejecting him. They said: we have more wealth and more children, and we will not be punished (34:35). That ayah exposes the reasoning behind ʿAd's sentence. Look at our herds, our sons, our gardens. Surely a people this blessed are a people approved.

Third, in Surah As-Saffat. The people of Paradise are talking among themselves, almost in disbelief. Are we not to die again, except our first death? And we will not be punished (37:58-59)?

The same claim. In two mouths it is arrogance, made before the reckoning by people who assumed their wealth was a verdict. In the third it is wonder, made after the reckoning by people who never presumed it in this life.

That is the lesson. Safety from punishment is real. But it is something you discover on the far side, as a gift. It is never something you declare on this side, as a right.

The ones who will finally say these words in truth are the ones who, in the world, were afraid they might not be able to.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.