227 verses • revealed at Meccan
»The surah that mentions the aimless meandering of unbelieving Poets in their creative effort to versify, and how their own actions belie their artistic messages, though it exempts from this censure poets who are believers and act with justice and righteousness. It takes its name from verse 224 ff. concerning the poets (shuʿarāʾ). The surah talks about the disbelievers who belittle the Quran, and gives examples of God’s power and grace in nature. It recounts several stories of earlier prophets, the reactions of their people, and punishments that afflicted them, ending by confirming the divine origin of the Quran. It is not something brought down by the jinn, nor is it poetry.«
بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ
E. H. Palmer: IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
T. S. M.