Ash-Shu'ara · Makki · ayah 142 of 227

Ash-Shu'ara 26:142

إِذْ قَالَ لَهُمْ أَخُوهُمْ صَـٰلِحٌ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ

“When their brother Ṣāliḥ said to them, "Will you not fear Allāh?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Salih, one of Thamud's own, opens with the question every messenger in this surah asks: will you not guard yourselves?

A reflection

The same question, and the one word that changes

Five messengers in this surah open with this question: Nuh, Hud, Salih, Lut and Shuʿayb (26:106, 26:124, 26:142, 26:161, 26:177). The fuller treatment of the question itself, will you not guard yourselves, sits at 37:124. Here it is enough to notice one word.

Four of the five are called their brother. Shuʿayb, speaking to the dwellers of the thicket, is not (26:177). The Quran names the tie where the tie exists. Salih was born among Thamud, knew their families and their valley. The call did not arrive from outside the walls. It came from a man they had grown up beside.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.