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Five words: the favours Salih names, the people held weak, the shaking that ended Thamud, the purity Lut's people mocked, and those who remained. Indonesian has words from two of these roots: duafa and taharah.
ءَالَآءَ
ālāʾa · 7:74 · ▶ hear ayah 74
Saheeh International: “the favors” — Then remember the favors of Allah
- Meaning in context
- Favours: the good things Allah gives. Salih says the word right after naming what Thamud could do: build palaces on the plains and carve homes out of the mountains. Al-Qurtubi says this shows that favours are given to people who do not believe as well. You may know the word from Surah ar-Rahman, where it comes again and again: fa-bi-ayyi ālāʾi rabbikumā tukadhdhibān, “So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?”
- Root
- أ ل و ʾ-l-w. Lane, on the singular: “A benefit, benefaction, favour, boon, or blessing”, and the plural is this word, ālāʾ. Corpus root ↗ · Lane's Lexicon ↗
- For reflection
- Which favour do you use every day without remembering who gave it?
- In this surah
- Twice, both in the same words, “remember the favors of Allah”: Hud says it to ʿAd at 7:69, and Salih to Thamud here. That is our check of the two ayat.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Noun — accusative masculine plural. The nineteenth word of 7:74. Corpus 7:74 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 37 times, and this noun 34 times. Thirty-one of them are the refrain of Surah ar-Rahman:
- 55:13 فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ — “So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?”
- 53:55 فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكَ تَتَمَارَىٰ — “Then which of the favors of your Lord do you doubt?”
On the tafsir page → Al-Qurtubi on favours given to people who do not believe, and al-Jalalayn's summer and winter homes.
ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟
stuḍʿifū · 7:75 · ▶ hear ayah 75
Saheeh International: “were oppressed” — to those who were oppressed - to those who believed among them
- Meaning in context
- Not simply “the weak”, but people who were held weak: counted as weak by others, and treated that way. Al-Tabari says they were the people of humble means among Salih's followers, not the people of rank and power. The chiefs ask them, “Do you [actually] know that Salih is sent from his Lord?”, as if their belief could not count. In Indonesian, duafa, the poor and the weak, comes from this root.
- Root
- ض ع ف ḍ-ʿ-f, weakness. Lane: this form of the verb means “he found him to be so”, weak, or he “behaved proudly, haughtily, or insolently, towards him, in respect of worldly things, because of [his] poverty”. Corpus root ↗ · Lane's Lexicon ↗
- For reflection
- Whose voice in your family or community is easiest to overlook? What might they see that you do not?
- In this surah
- This verb comes three times: here, at 7:137, and at 7:150. At 7:137 Allah gives the land to “the people who had been oppressed”.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Verb, form X — 3rd person masculine plural passive perfect. The eighth word of 7:75. Corpus 7:75 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 52 times, and this verb 8 times. At 34:31 the two groups meet again, on the Day of Judgement:
- 34:31 يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا لَوْلَا أَنْتُمْ لَكُنَّا مُؤْمِنِينَ — “Those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant”, “If not for you, we would have been believers.”
On the tafsir page → Al-Tabari on who the weak were, and the two answers in ayat 75 and 76.
ٱلرَّجْفَةُ
al-rajfatu · 7:78 · ▶ hear ayah 78
Saheeh International: “the earthquake” — So the earthquake seized them
- Meaning in context
- A violent shaking. Saheeh gives “the earthquake”, and the commentators read the word three ways: an earthquake, a terrible cry from the sky, or both together. Surah Hud tells the same end with another word, “the shriek” (11:67). The tafsir page says whose reading is which.
- Root
- ر ج ف r-j-f, shaking. Lane gives “The earth quaked”. For this noun he has “a violent earthquake: and a vehement cry from heaven”, citing al-Jalalayn, and, from another authority, “in the Kur-án, any punishment that befalls a people”. Corpus root ↗ · Lane's Lexicon ↗
- For reflection
- What feels so solid in your life that you never think it could change?
- In this surah
- Three times: here, at 7:91 for Shuʿayb's people, and at 7:155, when “the earthquake seized” the seventy men Musa chose.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Noun — nominative feminine. The second word of 7:78. Corpus 7:78 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 8 times, and this noun 4 times: three in this surah and once at 29:37. At 7:155 it does not end a people; Musa prays, and asks for forgiveness:
- 7:155 فَلَمَّا أَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةُ قَالَ رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَإِيَّايَ — “And when the earthquake seized them”.
On the tafsir page → The three readings of al-rajfah, and what the commentators say about ayah 79.
يَتَطَهَّرُونَ
yataṭahharūna · 7:82 · ▶ hear ayah 82
Saheeh International: “keep themselves pure” — Indeed, they are men who keep themselves pure.
- Meaning in context
- They keep themselves clean, and they work at it. Lut's people said it as an insult, as the reason to drive them out. Qatadah, in Ibn Kathir: “They shamed them (Lut and the believers) with what is not a shame at all.” Al-Tabari: they keep clear of what we do. In Indonesian, taharah, purity before prayer, and tahir, clean, come from this root.
- Root
- ط ه ر ṭ-h-r. Lane: “clean, free from dirt or filth, or pure”, and purity “is of two kinds; [properly] corporeal and [tropically] spiritual”. On this ayah, and on 27:56, he notes: “the verb is used derisively”. Corpus root ↗ · Lane's Lexicon ↗
- For reflection
- Where do you keep yourself clean in a way nobody sees? What keeps you at it?
- In this surah
- Only here. Lut's people say it again in Surah an-Naml: “Indeed, they are people who keep themselves pure” (27:56).
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Verb, form V — 3rd person masculine plural imperfect. The last word of 7:82. Al-Suddi, in al-Tabari: they hold back. Corpus 7:82 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 31 times, and this form of the verb 5 times. At 9:108 it is praise:
- 9:108 فِيهِ رِجَالٌ يُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَتَطَهَّرُوا وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُطَّهِّرِينَ — “Within it are men who love to purify themselves; and Allah loves those who purify themselves.”
On the tafsir page → Qatadah on the insult, and al-Tabari and al-Suddi on what “keep themselves pure” means. Q1 on the discussion page starts here.
ٱلْغَـٰبِرِينَ
al-ghābirīna · 7:83 · ▶ hear ayah 83
Saheeh International: “those who remained” — she was of those who remained [with the evildoers]
- Meaning in context
- Those who stayed. The word says where Lut's wife ended up: not with the family that was saved. The commentators read it four ways: those who stayed behind, those who remained in the punishment, those who had grown old, and those absent from the rescue. The tafsir page names whose reading is which.
- Root
- غ ب ر gh-b-r. Lane: it “remained, lasted, or continued”, and also it “passed, passed away, or went away”, “and thus it has two contr. significations”: two opposite meanings. Al-Qurtubi says the same. Corpus root ↗ · Lane's Lexicon ↗
- For reflection
- What part of your faith do you carry yourself, and not only because of the people around you?
- In this surah
- Only here.
Grammar, counts and cross-references
- Grammar
- Active participle — genitive masculine plural. The last word of 7:83. Corpus 7:83 word by word ↗
- Elsewhere in the Qur'an
- The root occurs 8 times, and this word 7 times (7:83, 15:60, 26:171, 27:57, 29:32, 29:33, 37:135). All seven are in Lut's story, about the one of his household who was left behind; at 26:171 Saheeh has “an old woman”. That is our check of the seven ayat.
- 27:57 فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُ وَأَهْلَهُ إِلَّا امْرَأَتَهُ قَدَّرْنَاهَا مِنَ الْغَابِرِينَ — “We destined her to be of those who remained behind.”
On the tafsir page → The four readings of al-ghābirīn, each with its name.
More words to notice
- نَاقَةُ ٱللَّهِ nāqatu llāhi · 7:73
- “The she-camel of Allah.” Al-Qurtubi: joining her to Allah's name carries honour and distinction. The noun comes 7 times in the Qur'an, and every time it is this she-camel.
- وَتَنْحِتُونَ wa-tanḥitūna · 7:74
- “And carve.” The verb comes 4 times: three times for Thamud's homes (7:74, 15:82, 26:149), and once in Ibrahim's question, “Do you worship that which you [yourselves] carve” (37:95).
- وَلَا تَعْثَوْا۟ … مُفْسِدِينَ wa-lā taʿthaw … mufsidīna · 7:74
- “Do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.” This verb comes 5 times in the Qur'an, each time in this same command.
- فَعَقَرُوا۟ fa-ʿaqarū · 7:77
- “So they hamstrung.” Al-Qurtubi: to cut a leg so the animal falls; then the word was used for the killing itself. The verb comes 5 times, and every time it is this deed.
- وَعَتَوْا۟ wa-ʿataw · 7:77
- “And were insolent.” Al-Tabari reports Mujahid: they rose above the truth. 51:44 says it of Thamud too: “But they were insolent toward the command of their Lord”.
- جَـٰثِمِينَ jāthimīna · 7:78
- “Fallen prone.” Al-Qurtubi: stuck to the ground on their knees and faces, the way a bird crouches. Five times in the Qur'an, always the end of Thamud or of Madyan.
- أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ … وَنَصَحْتُ ablaghtukum … wa-naṣaḥtu · 7:79
- “I had certainly conveyed to you … and advised you.” Session 09's two verbs again: Nuh said them at 7:62; Salih says them at the end. The ayah's last word, al-nāṣiḥīn, “advisors”, is the word Iblis used of himself at 7:21 (session 03).
- ٱلْفَـٰحِشَةَ al-fāḥishata · 7:80
- “Immorality.” Session 04 met this word at 7:28, and session 05 its plural at 7:33. It comes 17 times in the Qur'an.
- مُّسْرِفُونَ musrifūna · 7:81
- “A transgressing people.” From the root of session 04's word wa-lā tusrifū, do not go past the limit. Al-Jalalayn: “transgressing the bounds going from what is lawful to what is unlawful”.
Self-check
Find the word in the ayah, then open the answer.
Which word in ayah 74 means “the favors”?
ءَالَآءَ
ālāʾa — the nineteenth word, after “then remember”.
Which word in ayah 75 means “were oppressed”?
ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟
stuḍʿifū — the eighth word.
Which word in ayah 78 means “the earthquake”?
ٱلرَّجْفَةُ
al-rajfatu — the second word.
Which word in ayah 82 means “keep themselves pure”?
يَتَطَهَّرُونَ
yataṭahharūna — the last word.
Which word in ayah 83 means “those who remained”?
ٱلْغَـٰبِرِينَ
al-ghābirīna — the last word.
| Word | Transliteration | Ayah |
|---|---|---|
| ءَالَآءَ | ālāʾa | 7:74 |
| ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ | stuḍʿifū | 7:75 |
| ٱلرَّجْفَةُ | al-rajfatu | 7:78 |
| يَتَطَهَّرُونَ | yataṭahharūna | 7:82 |
| ٱلْغَـٰبِرِينَ | al-ghābirīna | 7:83 |