Surah Ash-Shu'ara, Ayah 196

The Qur'an was mentioned in the Previous Scriptures

Allah says: this Qur'an was mentioned and referred to in the previous Scriptures that were left behind by their Prophets who foretold it in ancient times and more recently. Allah took a covenant from them that they would follow it, and the last of them stood and addressed his people with the good news of Ahmad:

وَإِذْ قَالَ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ يبَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ إِنِّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُم مُّصَدِّقاً لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَىَّ مِنَ التَّوْرَاةِ وَمُبَشِّراً بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِى مِن بَعْدِى اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدُ

(And (remember) when `Isa, son of Maryam, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allah unto you, confirming the Tawrah before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.) (61:6) Zubur here refers to Books; Zubur is the plural of Az-Zabur, which is also the name used to refer to the Book given to Dawud. Allah says:

وَكُلُّ شَىْءٍ فَعَلُوهُ فِى الزُّبُرِ

(And everything they have done is noted in the Az-Zubur.) (54:52), meaning, it is recorded against them in the books of the angels. Then Allah says:

أَوَلَمْيَكُن لَّهُمْ ءَايَةً أَن يَعْلَمَهُ عُلَمَاءُ بَنِى إِسْرَءِيلَ

(Is it not a sign to them that the learned scholars of the Children of Israel knew it) meaning, is it not sufficient witness to the truth for them that the scholars of the Children of Israel found this Qur'an mentioned in the Scriptures which they study The meaning is: the fair-minded among them admitted that the attributes of Muhammad ﷺ and his mission and his Ummah were mentioned in their Books, as was stated by those among them who believed, such as `Abdullah bin Salam, Salman Al-Farisi and others who met the Prophet . Allah said:

الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِىَّ الأُمِّىَّ

(Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write ...) (7:157)

The Intense Disbelief of Quraysh

Then Allah tells us how intense the disbelief of Quraysh was, and how stubbornly they resisted the Qur'an. If this Book with all its eloquence had been revealed to a non-Arab who did not know one word of Arabic, they still would not have believed in him. Allah says:

وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَـهُ عَلَى بَعْضِ الاٌّعْجَمِينَ

فَقَرَأَهُ عَلَيْهِم مَّا كَانُوا بِهِ مُؤْمِنِينَ-

(And if We had revealed it unto any of the non-Arabs, And he had recited it unto them, they would not have believed in it.) And Allah says:

وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَاباً مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ فَظَلُّواْ فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ لَقَالُواْ إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَـرُنَا

(And even if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they were to keep on ascending thereto. They would surely say: "Our eyes have been dazzled...") (15:14-15)

وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَـئِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَى

(And even if We had sent down unto them angels, and the dead had spoken unto them...) (6:111)

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe.) (10:96)

كَذَلِكَ سَلَكْنَاهُ فِي قُلُوبِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ - لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ - فَيَأْتِيَهُم بَغْتَةً وَهُمْ لاَ يَشْعُرُونَ - فَيَقُولُواْ هَلْ نَحْنُ مُنظَرُونَ - أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ - أَفَرَأَيْتَ إِن مَّتَّعْنَـهُمْ سِنِينَ - ثُمَّ جَآءَهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يُوعَدُونَ - مَآ أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ مَّا كَانُواْ يُمَتَّعُونَ - وَمَآ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ إِلاَّ لَهَا مُنذِرُونَ

Commentary

Qur’ an is the name of the collection of its words and meanings

نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّ‌وحُ الْأَمِينُ ﴿193﴾ عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُنذِرِ‌ينَ ﴿194﴾ بِلِسَانٍ عَرَ‌بِيٍّ مُّبِينٍ ﴿195﴾ وَإِنَّهُ لَفِي زُبُرِ‌ الْأَوَّلِينَ ﴿196﴾

It is brought by the Trusted Spirit down [ 193] to your heart, so that you become one of the warners [ 194] in plain Arabic language. [ 195] And of course, it is (mentioned) in the scriptures of the former people. [ 196]

The words بِلِسَانٍ عَرَ‌بِيٍّ مُّبِينٍ (in plain Arabic language - 195) in these verses makes it clear that Qur'an is only that which is in Arabic language. Any translation of a passage or the whole of Qur'an in any language cannot be called Qur'an. But the next sentence وَإِنَّهُ لَفِي زُبُرِ‌ الْأَوَّلِينَ (And of course, it is [ mentioned ] in the scriptures of the former people - 196) does not seem to be in consonance with it, because the pronoun 'it' is apparently refers to the Qur'an and means that the Qur'an was also in the earlier scriptures, i.e. in Torah, Injil and Zabur. It is also well known that the earlier books, namely Torah, Injil and Zabur, were not in the Arabic language. Hence the inclusion of the meanings of Qur’ an in them is referred in this verse as ` Qur'an'. Answer to this apparent contradiction is that according to majority of the Ummah, sometimes even the subject matter of the Qur’ an is called Qur'an in a general sense, because the real purpose of a book is the subjects it deals with. The statement that earlier books also contained Qur'an is in this sense only that they included some Qur'anic subjects. This statement is also endorsed by many narrations of hadith.

Shu‘ayb’s community had so much faith in the righteousness of their forefathers’ ways that the prophet’s sayings seemed perverse and absurd. They said that somebody might well have cast a magic spell on him to make him talk the way he did. They challenged Shu‘ayb to bring down the punishment of the skies, if what he said were true. They did this to deride Shu‘ayb, feeling that the punishment would certainly not descend because of him. The insolence of this community invited the direct wrath of God, as a vast cloud plunged them in gloom and a raging fire enveloped them, wiping out even the smallest trace of the community.