The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 420
Date of Revelation CHAPTER 26 ASH-SHU'ARĀ' (Revealed before Hijrah) A large majority of scholarly opinion regards this Surah as of Meccan origin, but according to Muqātil vv. 198 and 225 belong to the Medinite period. Ibn 'Abbās and Qatādah, however, are of the opinion that vv. 225-228 alone were revealed at Mecca. But this discrimination between certain verses as being of Meccan origin and certain others as having been revealed at Medina is only arbitrary. Generally, the commentators base this haphazard distinction on the subject matter of the verses in question which, according to them, deal with the conditions and circumstances in Mecca or Medina at the time when the relevant verse or verses were revealed or some particular incident which occurred in Mecca or Medina at that time. But thus to assign a particular verse or verses to the Meccan or Medinite period without giving sound and solid arguments or some incontestable historical evidence in support of such an assumption is at best hypothetical. Muqātil, for instance, holds v. 198 as having been revealed at Medina simply because it speaks of the "learned men of the Children of Israel" with whom the Muslims came in contact at Medina. If this fact alone were to be accepted as the criterion for determining as to whether a particular verse was revealed at Mecca or Medina, then both Surah Maryam and Sūrah Ṭā Hā, which were definitely revealed at Mecca, will have to be regarded as belonging to the Medinite period because they deal with Christianity and the Israelite Prophets, and the Muslims came in contact with Jews and Christians at Medina. This method of determining the period of the revelation of the Quranic verses or Surahs is not safe and is calculated to lead to wrong conclusions. The only safe guide in this respect is authentic historical evidence, the rest is mere conjecture and surmise. From this Surah a departure has been made in the subject matter of the Quran. From Surah Yūnus, the Quran had directed its address principally to the Jews and the Christians. With the present chapter, the Muslims take the place of these two peoples and the form, nature and scope of the address have been changed, therefore, from this Surah a change has also taken place in the bb (abbreviated letters) placed at the head of the Surahs. The present Surah has been named (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. Connection with the Preceding Sūrah The preceding Surah had ended on the note that it would be a great 2334