Tafseer Ibn Kathir of ASH SHAAFFAAT [123]

123. And verily, Ilyas was one of the Messengers. 124. When he said to his people: ”Will you not have Taqwa'' 125. ”Will you call upon `Ba`l and forsake the Best of creators, 126. Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers'' 127. But they denied him, so they will certainly be brought forth, 128. Save the chosen servants of Allah. 129. And We left for him among the later generations. 130. ”Salam (peace!) be upon Ilyasin!'' 131. Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good. 132. Verily, he was one of Our believing servants.) Ilyas Qatadah and Muhammad bin Ishaq said, ”Ilyas is another name for Idris.'' Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ”Ilyas is Idris.'' This was also the view of Ad-Dahhak . Wahb bin Munabbih said, ”He is Ilyas bin Yasin bin Finhas bin Al-`Izar bin Harun bin `Imran. Allah sent him to the Children of Israel after Hizqil (Ezekiel), may peace be upon them both. They had started to worship an idol called Ba`l, and he called them to Allah, may He be exalted, and forbade them to worship anyone besides Him. Their king believed in him, then he apostatized, and they persisted in their misguided ways, and not one person among them believed in him. So he prayed to Allah against them, and Allah withheld the rain from them for three years. Then they asked him to relieve them from that, and promised that they would believe in him if rain came to them. So he prayed to Allah for them, and the rains came, but they persisted in their evil ways of disbelief. So he asked Allah to take him to Him. Al-Yasa` bin Akhtub had grown up under his care, may peace be upon them both. So Ilyas was commanded to go to such and such a place, and whatever mount came to him, he was to ride on it and not to give it away. A horse of fire was brought to him, so he rode it, and Allah clothed him with light and covered him with feathers, and he used to fly with the angels as a human angel, heavenly yet also earthly. This is what was narrated by Wahb bin Munabbih from the People of the Book; Allah knows best how true it is.

(When he said to his people: ”Will you not have Taqwa'') means, `do you not fear Allah when you worship others instead of Him'

(Will you call upon Ba`l and forsake the Best of creators,) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and As-Suddi said that the word Ba`l means lord. `Ikrimah and Qatadah said, ”This is the language of the people of Yemen.'' According to another report from Qatadah, it is the language of Azd Shanu'ah. `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam narrated from his father that it is the name of an idol which was worshipped by the people of a city called Ba`labak (Baalbek) which is to the west of Damascus. Ad-Dahhak said, ”It is an idol which they used to worship.''

(Will you call upon Ba`l) means, `will you worship an idol,'

(and forsake the Best of creators, Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers) means, `He is the One Who is deserving of your worship alone, with no partners or associates.'

(But they denied him, so they will certainly be brought forth,) means, for the punishment on the Day of Reckoning.

(Save the chosen servants of Allah.) means, those who believe in Him alone.

(And We left for him among the later generations.) means, he is praised and spoken of highly.

(Salam (peace!) be upon Ilyasin!) Similarly, one might say for Isma`il, Isma`in. This is the language (dialect) of Bani Asad; they say Mikal, Mika'il, and Mika'in. They say Ibrahim and Ibraham; Isra'il, Isra'in; Tur Sina', Tur Sinin. All of that is fine.

(Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good. Verily, he was one of Our believing servants.) We have already discussed the meaning of this above. And Allah knows best.