قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ أَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُ عَلَى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّي وَرَزَقَنِي مِنْهُ رِزْقًا حَسَنًا وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَنْ أُخَالِفَكُمْ إِلَى مَا أَنْهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ إِنْ أُرِيدُ إِلَّا الْإِصْلَاحَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُ وَمَا تَوْفِيقِي إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ ﴿۸۸﴾ وَيَا قَوْمِ لَا يَجْرِمَنَّكُمْ شِقَاقِي أَنْ يُصِيبَكُمْ مِثْلُ مَا أَصَابَ قَوْمَ نُوحٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ هُودٍ أَوْ قَوْمَ صَالِحٍ وَمَا قَوْمُ لُوطٍ مِنْكُمْ بِبَعِيدٍ ﴿۸۹﴾ وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ رَبِّي رَحِيمٌ وَدُودٌ ﴿۹۰﴾ قَالُوا يَا شُعَيْبُ مَا نَفْقَهُ كَثِيرًا مِمَّا تَقُولُ وَإِنَّا لَنَرَاكَ فِينَا ضَعِيفًا وَلَوْلَا رَهْطُكَ لَرَجَمْنَاكَ وَمَا أَنْتَ عَلَيْنَا بِعَزِيزٍ ﴿۹۱﴾

﴾88﴿ Qaala yaa qawmi ara'aitum in kuntu 'alaa baiyinatim mir Rabbee wa razaqanee minhu rizqan hasanaa; wa maaa ureedu an ukhaalifakum ilaa maaa anhaakum 'anh; in ureedu illal islaaha mastata't; wa maa tawfeeqeee illaa billaah; 'alaihi tawakkaltu wa ilaihi uneeb
﴾89﴿ Wa yaa qawmi laa yajri mannakum shiqaaqeee ai yuseebakum mislu maaa asaaba qawma Noohin aw qawma Hoodin aw qawma Saalih; wa maa qawmu Lootim minkum biba'eed
﴾90﴿ Wastaghfiroo Rabbakum summa toobooo ilaih; inna Rabbee Raheemunw Wadood
﴾91﴿Qaaloo yaa Shu'aibu maa nafqahu kaseeram mimmaa taqoolu wa innaa lanaraaka feenaa da'eefanw wa law laa rahtuka larajamnaaka wa maaa anta 'alainaa bi'azeez

﴾88﴿ He said, O my people, consider if I am upon a clear proof from my Lord, and He has granted me a good blessing. I do not desire to oppose you in doing what I forbid you from. I only desire to bring about reform as much as I can. My success is only through Allah. Upon Him I rely, and to Him I turn in repentance
﴾89﴿ And O my people, let not your enmity towards me cause you to disregard this warning, lest a punishment similar to that which befell the people of Noah (peace be upon him), or the people of Hud (peace be upon him), or the people of Salih (peace be upon him) come upon you. And the people of Lot (peace be upon him) are not far from you
﴾90﴿ And seek forgiveness from your Lord, then turn to Him in repentance. Indeed, my Lord is Merciful and Loving
﴾91﴿ They said, O Shu'ayb (peace be upon him), we do not understand much of what you say, and indeed we see you as weak among us. Were it not for your tribe, we would surely have stoned you, for you are not esteemed in our eyes

[88] (رِزْقًا حَسَنًا) — refers either to revelation and prophethood, or to lawful sustenance.
The conditional response is implied — meaning: It is not permissible for me to betray the revelation of Allah.
(أَنْ أُخَالِفَكُمْ) — means that I go against you, and this implies either:
– Preceding you (سبقت) toward what I have forbidden you from, with the word "ارتكاب" (to commit) understood after it, – Or that "أُخَالِفَكُمْ" retains its basic meaning of opposition, and after it the verb "أميلُ" (I incline) is implied — i.e., I oppose you by inclining to what I have prohibited you from doing.
This part of the verse contains five etiquettes for any caller to the truth (dā‘ī):
1. Sincerity in da‘wah.
2. Avoiding hypocrisy.
3. Clarity in message.
4. Reliance on Allah.
5. Returning to Allah in all matters.
(وَإِلَيْهِ أُنِيبُ) — means either: – In all religious duties and decisions, I return only to Allah, or – I will return to Allah in the Hereafter — showing ultimate accountability.
Sharbīnī writes in his tafsīr that the Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) was the orator of the prophets (خَطِيبُ الأنبياء), because he addressed his people with such eloquence and wisdom.”
[89] In this verse, a worldly warning is mentioned by reminding them of the punishments that befell previous nations.
The structure of the verse contains implied wording, and its full meaning is: “Let not your opposition to me lead you to abandon faith, and thus the same punishment that befell earlier nations may strike you.”
The word (أَنْ يُصِيبَكُمْ مِثْلُ مَا أَصَابَ قَوْمَ...) — refers to various past nations who were destroyed due to rejecting their prophets.
(أَنْ تُصِيبَكُمْ مِثْلُ مَا أَصَابَ... إِنْ أَجْرَمْتُمْ) — here, "ajrama" means to become guilty or deserving of punishment; i.e., your own wrongdoing would bring destruction upon you.
(بِبَعِيدٍ) — though grammatically feminine, it is correctly applied here to "qawm" (people), because in Arabic, this term can be used for both masculine and feminine nouns, especially in stylistic and rhetorical contexts.
Alternatively, it is interpreted that the word "destruction" (اهلاك) is implied before "qawm", and that’s what the pronoun refers back to.
The overall message: Don’t let your stubbornness lead you to denial, for the same fate as past destroyed nations is not far from you.
[90] This verse contains encouragement, and it follows the style of “laf wa nashr murattab” (ordered mention and explanation).
That is: – Seek forgiveness → then Allah will have mercy upon you, – Repent → then Allah will love you.
In the noble hadith, it is mentioned that Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) was called "the orator of the prophets" (خَطِيبُ الأنبياء),
because his method of calling to Allah included all forms and styles of da‘wah — reason, emotion, mercy, and wisdom.
[91] In this verse, the people’s rejection of Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him) comes in the form of insult and disrespect — they use four methods to humiliate and mock him:
1. The first sentence is spoken with contempt, even though they understood his language well. Yet they say (مَا نَفْقَهُ كَثِيرًا مِمَّا تَقُولُ) — we do not understand much of what you say — as a way to belittle his message.
2. In the second sentence, the word "ضعيف" (weak) is used in two possible meanings:
– That you are alone, without support or followers.
– Or that you don’t understand politics and worldly matters, implying he lacks worldly cunning or diplomacy.
This is similar to what materialists and power-seekers say today about the people of truth — they accuse them of being naive or unaware of political strategy, just as the people of Shu‘ayb did.