Quran Universe
26:111

۞قَالُوٓاْ أَنُؤۡمِنُ لَكَ وَٱتَّبَعَكَ ٱلۡأَرۡذَلُونَ

Qaloo anuminu laka waittabaAAaka alarthaloona

They said, "Should we believe you while you are followed by the lowest [class of people]?"

Word by word
  1. ۞قَالُوٓاْThey said
  2. أَنُؤۡمِنُShould we believe
  3. لَكَin you
  4. وَٱتَّبَعَكَwhile followed you
  5. ٱلۡأَرۡذَلُونَthe lowest
Ash-Shu'ara · 26:111Makkah

Believe you? Your followers are the lowest of us.

Rejecting truth because of who accepted it

Their objection
Nuh's followerspoor, common people
so
we will not believeand be equal to them
What decides the truth
who believes itstatus of followers
whether it is truenothing else

The leaders of Nuh's people said: we will not follow you and become equal to the meanest people who follow you. Ibn Kathir notes they called them the lowest among us. The Prophet ﷺ heard the same from Quraysh: your followers are slaves and the poor.

You skip the small masjid because the people there are not your type. You ignore good advice because it came from the cleaner, or the intern. The truth does not change with the clothes of the one who carries it.

If the people accepting it are not impressive, it probably is not worth much.

The truth is true no matter who accepts it first.

Try this

Sit with or listen to someone today whom you would usually overlook.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

They said: "Shall we believe in you, when the inferior follow you? (111)He said: "And what knowledge have I of what they used to do? (112)"Their account is only with my Lord, if you could (but) know. (113)"And I am not going to drive away the believers. (114)"I am only a plain warner. (115)

The Demand of the People of Nuh and His Response

They said: "We do not believe in you, and we will not follow you and become equal to the meanest of the people, who follow you and believe in you, and they are the lowest among us."

قَالُوا أَنُؤْمِنُ لَكَ وَاتَّبَعَكَ الْأَرْذَلُونَ - قَالَ وَمَا عِلْمِي بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ

(They said: "Shall we believe in you, when the inferior follow you?" He said: "And what knowledge have I of what they used to do?") meaning, 'what does it have to do with me if they follow me? No matter what they used to do before, I do not have to check on them and examine their background; all I have to do is accept it if they believe in me; whatever is in their hearts is for Allah to know.'

إِنْ حِسَابُهُمْ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّي ۖ لَوْ تَشْعُرُونَ - وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(Their account is only with my Lord, if you could (but) know. And I am not going to drive away the believers.) It seems that they asked him to drive these people away, then they would follow him, but he refused to do that, and said:

وَمَا أَنَا بِطَارِدِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ - إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ

(And I am not going to drive away the believers. I am only a plain warner.) meaning, 'I have been sent as a warner, and whoever obeys me and follows me and believes in me, then he belongs to me and I to him, whether he is noble or common, upper-class or lower-class.'