(Revealed before Hijrah)
A large majority of Muslim scholars regard this Surah as of Meccan origin. It is entitled Ash-Shu‘ara’ (poets) in order to drive home to Muslims the supreme lesson that success comes to a people only when their profession and practice go together and that empty talk like that of the poets leads nowhere. From this Surah a departure has been made in the subject-matter of the preceding sixteen Chapters. From Surah Yunus the Qur’an had directed its address principally to the Jews and the Christians. With this Chapter the believers take their place; and the form, nature and scope of the address have been changed; therefore, a change has also taken place in the Muqatta‘at placed at the head of the Surah. The preceding Surah had ended on the note that it would be a great mistake to suppose that God would allow the time-honoured system that had come into being through the great religions of the world to be destroyed. On the contrary, He had created man to demonstrate in his person His great attributes and in order also that he should respond to the Divine Call. If man does not fulfil the object of his creation, then there is no need or justification for him to exist and no need for God to feel any hesitancy in destroying him. In this Surah we are told that in his love and solicitude for humanity, the Holy Prophet felt grieved at this apprehended possibility and desired that man may be saved. The destruction of man also clearly does not seem to be in harmony with the Divine design which is that he should be vouchsafed the opportunity to discover, with his own will and endeavour, the way of nearness to God and then should try to attain it. But if he refuses to do so, he should suffer the consequences of his refusal. The Surah further says that if man had not been endowed with the discretion and the ability to make a choice, he would have become a mere machine and an automaton and would not have been the image of his Creator as he is considered to be. So he must act and conduct himself in harmony with Divine scheme without which he cannot attain true and real salvation.
At the outset the Surah makes the claim that the Qur’an gives its own proofs and arguments and needs no extraneous help or support to substantiate and establish the truth of its claims and teachings and proceeds to say that when for the fulfilment of human requirements and needs, God has created pairs in all things in the physical world, it stands to reason that in the spiritual realm also He should have created their counterparts. Then quite appropriately the Surah gives the account of some Divine Messengers and opens this account with the story of Moses, who in pursuance of Divine command succeeded in taking the Israelites out of Egypt. To illustrate further that truth always triumphs in the long run and opposition to it comes to grief, the Surah gives a brief account of Prophets Abraham, Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot and Shu‘aib. Abraham demonstrated to his people the folly and futility of idol-worship. His account is followed by that of Noah whose people rejected him on the ground that he sought to remove all social distinctions. He was followed by Hud and Salih. Both these Divine Prophets tried hard to make their people realise that it was not material pomp and power but good morals and spiritual strength upon which really depended their life and prosperity but their peoples threw their preaching and warnings to the wind. The peoples of Lot and Shu‘aib fared no better. The former indulged in an unnatural vice and the latter were dishonest in their commercial dealings. Towards the end the Surah reverts to the subject with which it had commenced, viz. that the Qur’an is the revealed Word of God and that it gives sound and solid arguments to prove this claim, and adds that the Prophets of yore had testified to its truth and that the learned men of Israel also are convinced in their heart of hearts that it is God’s own revealed Word because it fulfils the prophecies which are contained in their Scriptures. The Surah invites disbelievers to ponder over the teachings of the Qur’an and to see that if they could have been the work of satans or could the Holy Prophet himself have produced them. It further says that the teachings of the Qur’an bear close resemblance to those of the earlier Scriptures, and satanic people evidently could have no access to their Divine Source. Satans descend only upon liars and sinners and upon those who forge lies and coin and copy falsehood. The poets derive inspiration from these votaries of falsehood and are in turn followed by men of low morals and of no fixed principles. They and their followers take delight in tall, meaningless talk, but do not act upon what they profess and preach. The Surah closes with enjoining the Holy Prophet to continue to preach the Unity and Oneness of God to his people and educate and train them for the promotion of the cause of Islam. He is further enjoined to trust in the Almighty and Merciful God under Whose protection and fostering care he passes his days, and Who will very soon end the state of dispersion of Muslims and will bring them together in a place where they will live in peace and prosperity and will worship the One True God in perfect safety and security.