Surah Ash-Shuara – Mahmoud Ali Al banna

Ash-Shuara ("The Poets") is the 26th surah of the Quran. A Meccan surah of 227 verses, second only to Al-Baqara in number of verses, it is 47th in the traditional order of revelation, after Al-Waqi'a, and lies in the nineteenth juz'. It is named after its closing passage on the poets (26:224–227), which distinguishes the revelation from the poetry of the Prophet's time.

Name and context

The surah opens with the letters Ta-Sin-Mim, like Al-Qasas, while An-Naml, revealed just after it, opens with Ta-Sin. It comforts the Prophet ﷺ, who was grieving at his people's rejection: "Perhaps you will consume yourself with grief because they do not believe" (26:3). Some scholars hold that its last four verses were revealed in Medina.

Main themes

The core of the surah is a series of seven stories of messengers and their peoples: Moses and Pharaoh (26:10–68), Abraham and his idolatrous people (26:69–104), Noah (26:105–122), Hud and 'Ad (26:123–140), Salih and Thamud (26:141–159), Lot (26:160–175) and Shu'ayb and the people of the Thicket (26:176–191). Each messenger says the same words, "So fear God and obey me; I ask no reward of you", and each story closes with the refrain "In that is a sign, yet most of them do not believe; and your Lord is the Almighty, the Merciful", heard eight times in the surah.

• Abraham describes his Lord, who created, guides, feeds, heals and will raise him, and prays to be spared disgrace "on the Day when neither wealth nor children will help, except for one who comes to God with a sound heart" (26:78–89).
• The Quran was brought down by the Trustworthy Spirit upon the Prophet's heart, in clear Arabic, and was foretold in earlier scriptures (26:192–197).
• The Prophet ﷺ is told to warn his nearest kinsmen, to be gentle with the believers and to rely on the Almighty, the Merciful (26:214–220).
• Devils descend only on sinful liars; poets are followed by those who stray, except those who believe, do good, remember God often and defend themselves after being wronged (26:221–227).

In the Sunnah

When 26:214 was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ climbed the hill of al-Safa and called on the clans of Quraysh (al-Bukhari and Muslim), then addressed his own family: "Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, ask me for whatever you wish of my wealth, but I cannot avail you anything before God" (al-Bukhari and Muslim). The exception for believing poets is illustrated by his words to Hassan ibn Thabit: "Lampoon them, and Gabriel is with you" (al-Bukhari and Muslim).