Ash-Shams 91:14 - Linguistic Miracle

But they deemed him a liar and hamstrung her. So their Lord engulfed them under the earth

for their Dhanb and levelled it.

The word damdama has been translated as engulfed. Much has been said about its meaning. Scholars have mentioned meanings such as a loud cry, being overtaken by punishment, as well as being swallowed up and buried inside the earth.⁹⁵ Its root meaning actually has to do with levelling and evening something out which quite well fits with the overall theme of the surah.⁹⁶ The ayah does not end there. It says just one more word

فَسَوَّىٰهَا

Then He levelled/ balanced it The very same word as in verse 8 وَنَفْسٍۢ وَمَا سَوَّىٰهَا By Soul and by its balancing We need to know what the pronoun it is referring to.

Dhanb is normally translated as sin. Its root was used mostly to refer to an animal’s

tail and also to the bottom or narrow ends of a valley; as well as to low ranked people in society. This word is mostly used in the Qurʾān for disobeying Allah, and for sins and guilt. It is derived from the root meanings of being left behind, lowered status and degradation. Sins degrade a person and lower his status. This root was also used in the meaning of following someone because a tail is behind the animal’s body as if it follows it wherever it goes.⁹⁷ This ayah could mean that when that person rose to kill the she-camel, thamūd - the entire people - approved of his act and followed him. Hence, Allah balanced out the punishment to each one of them. Though the one who killed it was only one man, thamūd’s assistance and approval of his action led them to have an equal and balanced share in the punishment. The majority of scholars have held this position but without mentioning the reason. They hold that taswiyah (balancing) means that Allah punished all of thamūd equally, without exception 98 and when we look at the word dhanb, it becomes clear that it was due to their approval and following of the one who killed the she-camel.

Secondly, taswiyah could also mean that their houses and buildings collapsed over them and buried them beneath the rubble, or that the earth swallowed them up, burying them alive inside it, and then the surface got levelled as though nothing remained.⁹⁹ Now it all goes back to the taswiyah of the soul that is the central point of this surah. Why use the same word here when describing thamūds punishment?

When people destroy the taswiyah that Allah established within them, then Allah destroys them with a taswiyah of another kind. When that scale of justice is violated and trampled on, Allah restores that scale and justice with His punishment. Allah’s punishment is rooted in justice and restoration. The one who fashioned the soul with perfect balance, is the same one who can perfectly restore this balance when it is violated, and also the one who perfectly levels and hands out punishment and justice to all those who deserve it. Think of taswiyah as setting things up in proper balance and order. When it is violated, Allah restores it back.

⁹⁵ al-Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, vol. 29, p. 75; Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, vol. 30, p. 375; al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, vol. 31, p. 196;
⁹⁶ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 674
⁹⁷ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 724
⁹⁸ al-Ṭ abarī, Jāmiʿ al-Bayān ʿan Taʾwīl Āy al-Qurʾān, vol. 24, p. 450; al-Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, vol. 29, p. 75
⁹⁹ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 2, p. 724; al-Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, vol. 29, p. 75. This opinion is present unanimously in tafsir literature as a whole.