Al-Fajr · Makki · ayah 7 of 30

Al-Fajr 89:7

إِرَمَ ذَاتِ ٱلْعِمَادِ

“[With] Iram[1915] - who had lofty pillars,[1916]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Quran names ʿĀd by their pillars, what they stood on and leaned on; later storytellers built them a golden city the text never mentions.

A reflection

The golden city and the treasure-sellers

A video with dramatic music is shared thousands of times. Satellite images, it claims, have revealed a lost golden city under the sands of Arabia: Iram of the pillars. Near the end there is a link. You can fund the expedition, and share in whatever is found.

The legend behind it is old. A king called Shaddād heard of Paradise and resolved to build its rival. For three hundred years he raised palaces of gold and silver on columns of emerald and ruby, with rivers and orchards. When it was finished, he set out to see it, and a shout from the sky destroyed him a day's journey short. Centuries later, the story goes, a desert Arab chasing stray camels stumbled on the city.

The classical scholars did not simply repeat this. One major commentator stopped to warn his readers against it. All of it, he wrote, comes from the fables of the Israelites, invented to test how much the ignorant would believe. A tale about a city that moves from Syria to Yemen to Iraq cannot be taken seriously. Another commentary's editor noted the plain marks of forgery on the chain. A third called the Shaddād story fabricated.

Then that same commentator made a remarkably modern point. The tale, he said, is close to what swindlers tell people about treasure hidden underground, guarded by obstacles. They use it to take money from the rich, the weak and the gullible, spending it on incense and potions.

What does the Quran itself say? Only this: ʿĀd, Iram, of the pillars. No gold, no emeralds, no three hundred years. Its interest is not in a wonder to marvel at, but in a people to learn from.

So the next time a thrilling 'Quranic' discovery arrives with a link to pay, remember the scholars' caution. The Quran needs no legend added to it. And a legend, sold with enough confidence, can still be used to empty your pockets.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.