Quran Universe
26:149

وَتَنۡحِتُونَ مِنَ ٱلۡجِبَالِ بُيُوتٗا فَٰرِهِينَ

Watanhitoona mina aljibali buyootan fariheena

And you carve out of the mountains, homes, with skill.

Word by word
  1. وَتَنۡحِتُونَAnd you carve
  2. مِنَof
  3. ٱلۡجِبَالِthe mountains
  4. بُيُوتٗاhouses
  5. فَٰرِهِينَskillfully
Ash-Shu'ara · 26:149Makkah

Skilled hands carving homes into mountains.

Talent spent on extravagance

Their craft
great skillmasonry, stone-carving
used for
extravagant playno need as homes
Two meanings, one picture
with skillIbn Abbas
greedy, extravagantMujahid and others

Thamud hewed houses out of the mountains with great skill, still visible today. Ibn Kathir joins the two meanings: they were skilled, but they built them as extravagant play, with no need for them as dwellings.

You are talented with code, design, cooking, or words. Yet most of that talent goes into things that only impress people or kill time. Skill is a gift with a purpose.

My talent is mine to use however I like.

The skill in my hands was given, and I will be asked what I built with it.

Try this

Use your best skill today for something that helps someone, even for twenty minutes.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 26:146)

"Will you be left secure in that which you have here? (146)"In gardens and springs. (147)"And crops and date palms with soft clusters. (148)"And you hew out in the mountains, houses with great skill. (149)"So, have Taqwa of Allah, and obey me. (150)"And follow not the command of the extravagant, (151)Who make mischief in the land, and reform not. (152)

A Reminder to Them of Their Circumstances and the Blessings They Enjoyed

Salih preached to them, warning them that the punishment of Allah could overtake them and reminding them of the blessings that Allah had bestowed upon them, by giving them ample provision and making them safe from all kinds of dangers, giving them gardens and flowing springs, and bringing forth for them crops and fruits.

وَنَخْلٍ طَلْعُهَا هَضِيمٌ

(and date palms with soft clusters.) Al-'Awfi narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, "Ripe and rich." 'Ali bin Abi Talhah narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that this meant growing luxuriantly. Isma'il bin Abi Khalid narrated from 'Amr bin Abi 'Amr – who met the Companions – from Ibn 'Abbas that this means, "When it becomes ripe and soft." This was narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim, then he said: "And something similar was narrated from Abu Salih."

وَتَنْحِتُونَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا فَارِهِينَ

(And you hew out in the mountains, houses with great skill.) Ibn 'Abbas and others said, "With great skill." According to another report from him: "They were greedy and extravagant." This was the view of Mujahid and another group. There is no contradiction between the two views, because they built the houses which they carved in the mountains as a form of extravagant play, with no need for them as dwelling places. They were highly skilled in the arts of masonry and stone-carving, as is well known to anyone who has seen their structures. So, Salih said to them:

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ

(So, have Taqwa of Allah, and obey me.) Pay attention to that which could benefit you in this world and the Hereafter; worshipping your Lord Who created you, who granted you provisions so that you could worship Him alone and glorify Him morning and evening.

وَلَا تُطِيعُوا أَمْرَ الْمُسْرِفِينَ - الَّذِينَ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا يُصْلِحُونَ

(And follow not the command of the extravagant, who make mischief in the land, and reform not.) meaning, their chiefs and leaders, who called them to Shirk, disbelief and opposition to the truth.