Surah Al-Hijr: Verse 10 - ولقد أرسلنا من قبلك في... - English

Tafsir of Verse 10, Surah Al-Hijr

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِى شِيَعِ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

English Translation

And We had certainly sent [messengers] before you, [O Muhammad], among the sects of the former peoples.

English Transliteration

Walaqad arsalna min qablika fee shiyaAAi alawwaleena

Tafsir of Verse 10

Indeed, We sent Messengers before thee, among the factions of the ancients,

We did send messengers before thee amongst the religious sects of old:

A Lexical Note of Explanation

The word: اَلشِيَعِ in the first verse (10) is the plural form of: شِیعہ (shah) which means the follower or helper of a person. Then, it is also used to denote a group which agrees upon particular beliefs and theoretical assumptions. So, the sense of the statement is that Allah Ta’ ala has sent messengers among every group or sect. Here, by using the word: فِی in فِي شِيَعِ الْأَوَّلِينَ ( in place of اِلٰی : ila: to (translated as 'among the groups of earlier peoples' ), the hint given is that the messenger for every group was sent from among that particular group so that people would find it easy to trust him, and that he too, by being aware of their taste and temperament, could make appropriate plans to work for their reform.

The Idolators of Every Nation made a Mockery of their Messengers

Consoling His Messenger for the rejection of the disbelieving Quraysh, Allah says that He has sent Messengers before him to the nations of the past, and no Messenger came to a nation but they rejected him and mocked him. Then He tells him that He lets disbelief enter the hearts of those sinners who are too stubborn and too arrogant to follow His guidance.

كَذَلِكَ نَسْلُكُهُ فِى قُلُوبِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ

(Thus We allow it to enter the hearts of the guilty.) Anas and Al-Hasan Al-Basri said that this referred to Shirk.

وَقَدْ خَلَتْ سُنَّةُ الاٌّوَّلِينَ

(and already the example of the ancients has gone forth.) meaning the destruction wrought by Allah on those who rejected His Messengers, and how He saved His Prophets and their followers in this world and in the Hereafter, is well known.

Verse 10 - Surah Al-Hijr: (ولقد أرسلنا من قبلك في شيع الأولين...) - English