The dwellers of the wooded dales (of Madyan), too, denied God’s messengers.
Their brother Shuayb said to them: “Will you have no fear of God? I am a Messenger (sent by Him) to you, worthy of all trust. So, fear God and obey me. No reward whatever do I ask of you for it: My reward is only from the Lord of all the worlds.
Give full measure; and be not of those who give others less (than their due); and weigh with even scales; and do not deprive others of what rightfully belongs to them; and do not act wickedly on earth spreading corruption; and fear Him who has created you as well as the countless generations of old.”
They said: “You are but one who has been bewitched. You are only a human being like us! And, indeed, we believe that you are lying. Cause, then, fragments of the sky to fall down on us, if you are a man of truth.”
Answered he: “My Lord knows fully well all that you do.”
But they denied him. Thus suffering overtook them on the day of the darkening cloud. It was truly the suffering of an awesome day.
Indeed, there is in this a sure sign; yet most of them will not believe. And indeed it is your Lord who is the Mighty One, the Merciful. (The Poets: Al-Shu’ara: 26: 176-191)
This passage tells the story of the Prophet Shuayb which, from the historical point of view, comes before that of Moses, but it is told here for the lessons involved in all the stories given in this surah. The dwellers of the “wooded dales” were most probably the people of Madyan. It seems that Madyan was close to this wooded land that was thick with trees, as the Qur’anic description implies. Madyan lies close to the Gulf of Aqaba, in the area between the Hijaz province of Saudi Arabia and Palestine.
Shuayb began in the same way as other prophets began calling on their people, explaining to them the basic essentials of faith, and making clear that he sought no gain in return for his advocacy. He then speaks to them about the ills that plagued their own society: “Give full measure, and be not of those who give others less (than their due); and weigh with even scales; and do not deprive others of what rightfully belongs to them; and do not act wickedly on earth spreading corruption.”
As clearly mentioned in surahs 7 and 11, The Heights and Hood respectively, they used to give people short measure whenever they weighed things for them. They also used their power to take more than what was rightly theirs, while they would give people less than what was due to them. They would buy things for less than their fair price, but would sell for higher prices. It appears that they lived by the route of trade caravans, which enabled them to dictate their terms. The messenger God sent them counseled them to pursue fairness in all such dealings. He preached the true faith that inevitably requires good treatment of others, and cannot overlook injustice in any dealings and interactions between people.
Shuayb then appealed to the sense of God-fearing in their hearts, as he reminded them of the Creator who brought them into existence as He did with all past generations: “Fear Him who has created you as well as the countless generations of old.”
Their response was so absurd, as they started to accuse him of being bewitched, speaking all sort of nonsense without knowing what he says: “They said: You are but one who has been bewitched.” They also questioned the fact that he was God’s messenger, since he was a man of their own kind. To them, a messenger of God should be different. Hence, they accused him of telling lies: “You are only a human being like us! And, indeed, we believe that you are lying.” They further challenged him to put his warnings into effect, bringing God’s punishment upon them, demanding that he cause the sky to break up and fall upon them: “Cause, then, fragments of the sky to fall down on us, if you are a man of truth.”
Such a challenge could only be made by a careless person who thinks little of the consequences. It is akin to the challenge the idolaters in Makkah put to the Prophet when he called on them to believe. But Shuayb chose not to answer such a thoughtless challenge. He limited his reply to simply saying: “My Lord knows fully well all that you do.”
The surah moves straight to tell about the end they met, but without adding any details: “But they denied him. Thus suffering overtook them on the day of the darkening cloud. It was indeed the suffering of an awesome day.”
It is reported that they first suffered very hot weather that made breathing difficult and weighed heavily on their lungs. Then they saw a cloud that they welcomed and sought the shade it provided, feeling the coolness it gave them initially. But soon a great thunderbolt struck them and destroyed them all. This was the “day of the darkening cloud”, as the cloud was its most distinctive mark.
This is followed by the same conclusion given in the surah after each of the stories of past communities it mentions: “Indeed, there is in this a sure sign; yet most of them will not believe. And indeed it is your Lord who is the Mighty One, the Merciful.”
Thus the stories related in this surah come to an end, telling us about God’s messengers and the messages they were required to deliver, the denial of the truth by different communities, the challenges they made and the punishments meted out to them. These stories began after a short introduction given at the beginning of the surah making a direct address to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and to his people of the Quraysh: “Would you, perhaps, torment yourself to death (with grief) because they would not believe? If We will, We can send down to them from the skies a sign before which their necks will remain bent in submission. Yet whenever any fresh reminder comes to them from the Most Merciful, they always turn their backs on it. They have indeed denied (the truth of revelation); and they will in time come to understand what it was they were wont to deride.” (Verses 3-6)
Then the surah embarked on telling those stories, each of which gives an example of a community coming to understand the reality of what they used to deride and ridicule.