Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (6) Surah: Al-An‘ām
أَلَمۡ يَرَوۡاْ كَمۡ أَهۡلَكۡنَا مِن قَبۡلِهِم مِّن قَرۡنٖ مَّكَّنَّٰهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مَا لَمۡ نُمَكِّن لَّكُمۡ وَأَرۡسَلۡنَا ٱلسَّمَآءَ عَلَيۡهِم مِّدۡرَارٗا وَجَعَلۡنَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرَ تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهِمۡ فَأَهۡلَكۡنَٰهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمۡ وَأَنشَأۡنَا مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ قَرۡنًا ءَاخَرِينَ
(6) Had they not seen how many a generation[1308] before them We have destroyed? We had established them in the land[1309] ˹far˺ more firmly than how We established you ˹people˺! We sent the sky pouring down on them profusely and We made the rivers run under their feet, ˹only˺ then We destroyed them for their sins[1310] and We brought into being another generation after them.
[1308] Qarn which derives from the verb qarana (to join together/bundle up) is a large group of people or a nation joined together both temporally and spatially. It is also said of a stretch of time, the people who live through this time, or those who live during a period over which a Prophet was active in his career. It is said that qarn is 80 years long but no less than 30 years. (Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt)
[1309] The Qurayshites had many of the ruins of previous, much more prosperous, nations all around them: “You ˹Makkans˺ pass by their ruins morning *and night. Will you not use your reason?” (37: 137-138). They could also see many more of these majestic ruins, especially those of the wealthy Nabateans in Hegra (al-Ḥijr) and Petra (al-Batrā’) respectively, during their famed winter and summer journeys (cf. 106: 2). The fact that these earlier nations who were endowed with such abundance and were given water (the source of life and prosperity) both flowing and pouring without end were devastated, did not make them think over their fate contemplatively. “Have they not travelled throughout the land to see what was the end of those ˹destroyed˺ before them? They were far superior in might; they cultivated the land and developed it more than these ˹Makkans˺ ever have. Their Messengers came to them with clear proofs. Allah would have never wronged them, but it was they who wronged themselves” (30:9).
[1310] “Your Lord never destroys towns until He sends a Messenger to their mother ˹town˺ to recite unto them Our Signs. And We never destroy towns, save when their people are wrongdoers” (28:59).
[1309] The Qurayshites had many of the ruins of previous, much more prosperous, nations all around them: “You ˹Makkans˺ pass by their ruins morning *and night. Will you not use your reason?” (37: 137-138). They could also see many more of these majestic ruins, especially those of the wealthy Nabateans in Hegra (al-Ḥijr) and Petra (al-Batrā’) respectively, during their famed winter and summer journeys (cf. 106: 2). The fact that these earlier nations who were endowed with such abundance and were given water (the source of life and prosperity) both flowing and pouring without end were devastated, did not make them think over their fate contemplatively. “Have they not travelled throughout the land to see what was the end of those ˹destroyed˺ before them? They were far superior in might; they cultivated the land and developed it more than these ˹Makkans˺ ever have. Their Messengers came to them with clear proofs. Allah would have never wronged them, but it was they who wronged themselves” (30:9).
[1310] “Your Lord never destroys towns until He sends a Messenger to their mother ˹town˺ to recite unto them Our Signs. And We never destroy towns, save when their people are wrongdoers” (28:59).
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (6) Surah: Al-An‘ām
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.