سورة النمل: النمل (التآمر لقتل نبي)
Al-Naml The Ants ( Plotting To Kill A Prophet) 45-53
وَإِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُ ثُمَّ إِذَا هُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ Wait — let me correct that: the instruction says to translate the user's text faithfully, and the user's text is an English rendering of a Qur'an verse. Here is the translation as requested: إِلَىٰ ثَمُودَ أَخَاهُمْ صَالِحًا، فَقَالَ: «يَا قَوْمِ اعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ»، فَإِذَا هُمْ فَرِيقَانِ يَخْتَصِمُونَ
To the Thamūd We sent their brother, Şāliĥ, and he said: “Worship God alone’, but they split into two contending factions. (45)
قال [صالح]: «يا قوم، لماذا تستعجلون بالسيئة قبل الحسنة؟ لماذا لا تستغفرون الله لعلكم ترحمون؟» (46)
Said [Şāliĥ]: “My people, why do you seek to hasten evil instead of hoping for the good? Why do you not seek God’s forgiveness, so that you may be graced with His mercy?’ (46)
قَالُوا: «إِنَّا تَطَيَّرْنَا بِكُمْ وَبِمَنْ مَعَكُمْ». قَالَ: «طَائِرُكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ».
They answered: “We augur evil from you and those that follow you.’ Said he: “The evil you augur can come only from God.
إِنَّكُمْ لَمُبْتَلَوْنَ
You are indeed people undergoing a test.’ (47)
وَكَانَ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ تِسْعَةُ رَهْطٍ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا يُصْلِحُونَ
There were in the city nine men who did evil deeds in the land, and would not do any good. (48)
قَالُوا تَقَاسَمُوا بِاللَّهِ لَنُبَيِّتَنَّهُ وَأَهْلَهُ ثُمَّ لَنَقُولَنَّ لِوَلِيِّهِ مَا شَهِدْنَا مَهْلِكَ أَهْلِهِ وَإِنَّا لَصَادِقُونَ (49)
They said: ‘Let us swear a mutual oath by God that we shall suddenly kill him and his household by night; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, “We did not witness the destruction of his household; and we are indeed telling the truth.” (49)
وَمَكَرُوا مَكْرًا وَمَكَرْنَا مَكْرًا وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
They devised a scheme; but We also devised a scheme, while they could not perceive it. (50)
فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ مَكْرِهِمْ أَنَّا دَمَّرْنَاهُمْ وَقَوْمَهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ
Behold what all their scheming came to in the end: We destroyed them utterly, together with all their people, (51)
فَتِلْكَ مَسَاكِنُهُمْ خَاوِيَةً بِمَا ظَلَمُوا ۗ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَةً لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ ٥٢
and their dwellings are now empty, ruined, because of their wrongdoing. In this there is a clear sign for people of knowledge. (52)
{وَأَنجَيْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ} (٥٣)
And we saved the people who believed and were God-fearing. (53)
نظرة عامة
Overview
في أغلب الحالات عندما تُذكر قصة النبي صالح وثمود، فإنها تشكّل جزءًا من سلسلة من القصص تتعلق بالأنبياء نوح وهود ولوط وشعيب. وأحيانًا تُذكر أيضًا قصة إبراهيم. وفي هذه السورة، يُولى اهتمام خاص للأنبياء المرسلين إلى بني إسرائيل.
In the majority of cases when an account of the history of the Prophet Şāliĥ and the Thamūd is given, it constitutes part of a series of histories involving the Prophets Noah, Had, Lot and Shu`ayb. Sometimes we also have an account of Abraham. In this sūrah, particular emphasis is given to prophets sent to the Children of Israel:
موسى وداود وسليمان. ليس لدينا خبر عن هود وشعيب وإبراهيم.
Moses, David and Solomon. We have no account of Hūd, Shu`ayb or Abraham.
في هذه الرواية عن صالح لا نجد ذكرًا للناقة التي كانت معجزته. وبدلًا من ذلك نجد قصة التسعة الأشرار الذين دبّروا مؤامرة لاغتياله وأهل بيته. فدبّروا مكيدتهم ضده وهو غافل تمامًا، لكن الله أحبط كيدهم، وأهلكهم وقومهم، فتركَ بيوت الظالمين خاوية لتكون عبرة للأجيال التي تلتها. ونجّى الذين آمنوا وكانوا يتقون الله. وكان المشركون في مكة يمرّون كثيرًا بديار ثمود الخربة، ومع ذلك لم يعتبروا.
In the present account of Şāliĥ we have no mention of the she- camel which was the miracle given to him. Instead, we are given the episode involving nine wicked people who plotted to assassinate him and his household. They conspired against him when he was totally unaware, but God foiled their scheming, destroyed them and their community, leaving the homes of the wrongdoers empty to serve as a lesson to following generations. He saved those who believed and led God-fearing lives. The idolaters in Makkah often passed by the destroyed dwellings of the Thamūd, yet still they did not take heed.
تعجيل الشر
Precipitating Evil
"إلى ثمود أرسلنا أخاهم صالحًا، فقال: ﴿اعبدوا الله﴾، فإذا هم فريقان يختصمون." (الآية ٤٥) في هذه الآية تتلخص الرسالة كلها التي بلّغها صالح لقومه في نقطة واحدة، هي "اعبدوا الله وحده"، وهي أساس الرسالة الإلهية للبشر عبر جميع الأجيال، ومع جميع الأنبياء والرسل. ومع أن كل ما حول الإنسان في الكون وما فيه من نفسه يحثّ على الإيمان بهذه الحقيقة الأساسية، فقد عاش الناس أجيالًا لا تُحصى ينكرون هذه الحقيقة البسيطة الأساسية أو يسخرون منها، وما زالوا اليوم يتجاهلونها عمدًا، سالكين طرقًا متباينة تبعدهم عن الطريق الحق والمستقيم.
“To the Thamūd We sent their brother, Şāliĥ, and he said: “Worship God alone’, but they split into two contending factions.” (Verse 45) In this verse the whole message Şāliĥ conveyed to his people is summed up in one point, “worship God alone,’ which is the basis of the divine message to mankind throughout all generations, and with all prophets and messengers. Although everything around man in the universe and within man himself urges belief in this fundamental truth, humanity lived for countless generations denying or deriding this basic and simple fact. It continues to deliberately evade it today, taking divergent routes that lead it away from the right and straight path.
تذكر السورة موقف قوم صالح بعد أن بذل جهده في دعوتهم إلى الإيمان، فانقسموا إلى فريقين: فريق استجاب له، وفريق عارضه. وكان الفريق المعارض هو الأكثر عددًا، كما يخبرنا القرآن الكريم في موضع آخر.
The sūrah mentions the attitude of Şāliĥ’s people after he had endeavoured to persuade them to believe, but they split into two factions: one that responded to him and the other who opposed him. The latter formed the majority, as we are told elsewhere in the Qur’ān.
نَلحَظُ أنَّ في القصة فجوةً، وهذا أمرٌ شائعٌ في السرد القرآني، وندرك أنَّ الذين كذَّبوا رسالةَ صالحٍ حاولوا أن يُعجِّلوا عذابَ الله الذي حذَّرهم منه، بدلًا من أن يسألوا الله الهدايةَ والرحمةَ. وبذلك كانوا مِثلَ قريشٍ الذين عجَّلوا هم أيضًا بعذاب الله. وقد أنكر صالحٌ عليهم هذا الموقف، وحاول أن يوجِّههم إلى طلب مغفرة الله، ليَنالوا رحمتَه: ﴿قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ لِمَ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ قَبْلَ الْحَسَنَةِ ۖ لَوْلَا تَسْتَغْفِرُونَ اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ﴾ (الآية 46)
We then have a gap in the story, which is common in Qur’ānic narration, and we sense that those who denied Şāliĥ’s message tried to hasten God’s punishment against which he had warned them, rather than praying for God’s guidance and mercy. In this they were the same as the Quraysh who also precipitated God’s punishment. Şāliĥ criticized their attitude and tried to direct them to seek God’s forgiveness, so that they might receive His mercy: “Said [Şāliĥ]: My people, why do you seek to hasten evil instead of hoping for the good? Why do you not seek God’s forgiveness, so that you may be graced with His mercy?” (Verse 46)