their brother Shuayb. He said, “My people, worship Allah; you have no god other than Him. Do not give short measure or weight.” That is, do not diminish them. Along with their polytheism, they used to give short measure. “Indeed, I see you in prosperity.” Ibn Abbas said: “Well-off, enjoying blessing.” Mujahid said: “In fertility and abundance.” Thus, he warned them that these blessings would vanish, prices would rise, and punishment would befall them if they did not repent. He said: “And indeed, I fear for you the punishment of an encompassing Day”—one that would surround them and destroy them.

“And my people, give full measure and weight with justice, and do not deprive people of what is rightfully theirs, nor spread corruption throughout the land. What Allah leaves for you is better for you, if you are believers. And I am not a keeper over you. They said, ‘O Shuayb, does your prayer command you that we should abandon what our fathers worshipped, or that we should not do with our wealth whatever we please? Indeed, you are surely the forbearing, rightly guided man.’” (85–87)

“And my people, give full measure and weight”: complete both of them. “With justice”: with fairness. It was also said: by properly adjusting the balance beam. “And do not deprive”: do not diminish, “people of what is rightfully theirs, nor spread corruption throughout the land.”

“What Allah leaves for you is better for you, if you are believers.” Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: This means that what Allah leaves for you of what is lawful after giving full measure and weight is better than what you take by giving short measure. Mujahid said: “What Allah leaves” means obedience to Allah; it is better for you, if you believe that what you possess is from Allah’s provision and bounty. “And I am not a keeper over you”: that is, one entrusted with your affairs. It was also said that he only said this because he had not been commanded to fight them.

“They said, ‘O Shuayb, does your prayer command you that we should abandon what our fathers worshipped’”—namely, idols. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Shuayb, peace be upon him, prayed frequently; this is why they said this. Al-A'mash said: It means, “Does your recitation command you?” “Or that we should do with our wealth whatever we please”—whether by increasing or decreasing it.

It was also said that Shuayb, peace be upon him, forbade them from clipping dinars and dirhams, maintaining that this was forbidden to them. So they said: “Or that we should do with our wealth whatever we please,” by clipping them (1).

“Indeed, you are surely the forbearing, rightly guided man.” Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: They meant the foolish and misguided man. The Arabs describe something by its opposite: thus, they call a person bitten by a snake “sound,” and a barren desert “a place of safety.” [It was also said] (2) that they said this mockingly.

It was also said that its meaning is: “Forsooth, you are the forbearing, rightly guided man.”

And it was said that it was meant literally: that is, “O Shuayb, among us you are indeed forbearing and rightly guided; it does not befit you to break with your people and oppose their religion,” just as the people of Salih, peace be upon him, said: “You had been one among us in whom hope was placed before this” (Hud 11:62).