Study the Quran

Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Al-Hajj 22:45

Word by word

فَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـٰهَا وَهِىَ ظَالِمَةٌ فَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا وَبِئْرٍ مُّعَطَّلَةٍ وَقَصْرٍ مَّشِيدٍ

And how many a city did We destroy while it was committing wrong - so it is [now] fallen into ruin - and [how many] an abandoned well and [how many] a lofty palace.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

The Consequences for the Disbelievers

Here Allah consoles His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ for the disbelief of those among his people who opposed him.وَإِن يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ(And if they deny you, so did deny before them the people of Nuh) until His saying,وَكُذِّبَ مُوسَى(and denied was Musa.) means, despite all the clear signs and evidence that they brought.فَأمْلَيْتُ لِلْكَـفِرِينَ(But I granted respite to the disbelievers for a while,) means, `I delayed and postponed.'ثُمَّ أَخَذْتُهُمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ(then I seized them, and how (terrible) was My punishment!) means, `how great was My vengeance against them and My punishment of them!' In the Two Sahihs it is reported from Abu Musa that the Prophet said:«إِنَّ اللهَ لَيُمْلِي لِلظَّالِمِ حَتَّى إِذَا أَخَذَهُ لَمْ يُفْلِتْه»(Allah lets the wrongdoer carry on until, when He seizes him, He will never let him go.) Then he recited:وَكَذلِكَ أَخْذُ رَبِّكَ إِذَا أَخَذَ الْقُرَى وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ إِنَّ أَخْذَهُ أَلِيمٌ شَدِيدٌ(Such is the punishment of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong.

Verily, His punishment is painful (and) severe.) 11:102 Then Allah says:فَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـهَا(And many a township did We destroy)وَهِىَ ظَـلِمَةٌ(while they were given wrongdoing,) meaning, they were rejecting their Messengers.فَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا(so that it lie in ruins,) Ad-Dahhak said, "Leveled to their roofs," i.e., their houses and cities were destroyed.وَبِئْرٍ مُّعَطَّلَةٍ(and (many) a deserted well) means, they draw no water from it, and no one comes to it, after it had been frequented often by crowds of people.وَقَصْرٍ مَّشِيدٍ(and a castle Mashid!) `Ikrimah said, "This means whitened with plaster." Something similar was narrated from `Ali bin Abi Talib, Mujahid, `Ata', Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Al-Mulayh and Ad-Dahhak. Others said that it means high and impenetrable fortresses.

All of these suggestions are close in meaning and do not contradict one another, for this sturdy construction and great height did not help their occupants or afford them any protection when the punishment of Allah came upon them, as He says:أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُواْ يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنتُمْ فِى بُرُوجٍ مُّشَيَّدَةٍ("Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you even if you are in Buruj Mushayyadah!") 4:78أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ(Have they not traveled through the land,) means, have they not traveled in the physical sense and also used their minds to ponder That is sufficient, as Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya said in his book At-Tafakkur wal-I`tibar, "Some of the wise people said, `Give life to your heart with lessons, illuminate it with thought, kill it with asceticism, strengthen it with certain faith, remind it of its mortality, make it aware of the calamities of this world, warn it of the disasters that life may bring, show it how things may suddenly change with the passing of days, tell it the stories of the people of the past, and remind it what happened to those who came before."' Walk through their ruins, see what they did and what became of them, meaning, look at the punishments and divine wrath that struck the nations of the past who belied,فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ ءَاذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا(and have they hearts wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear) meaning, let them learn a lesson from that.فَإِنَّهَا لاَ تَعْمَى الاٌّبْصَـرُ وَلَـكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِى فِى الصُّدُورِ(Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind.) means, the blind person is not the one whose eyes cannot see, but rather the one who has no insight.

Even if the physical eyes are sound, they still cannot learn the lesson.

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

Qur’ anic prophecy about the Rightly Guided Caliphs ( خُلفأے راشدین ) and its fulfillmentالَّذِينَ إِن مَّكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (Those who, when We give them power in the land - 22:41) In this verse the word (those) refers to those people who have been mentioned in the preceding verse: الَّذِينَ أُخْرِ‌جُوا مِن دِيَارِ‌هِم بِغَيْرِ‌ حَقٍّ (Those are the ones who were expelled from their homes without any just reason - 22:40). Referring to such people the verse says that if they are placed in authority in this world, they will use it to promote good deeds, will set up prayers, pay the obligatory charity, enjoin people to do good and abstain from evil deeds. It has already been mentioned that these verses were revealed soon after Hijrah, at a time when the Muslims did not exercise dominion anywhere on earth, which means that Allah Ta’ ala had already made it known that when, at a future date, they would come to power and establish their government, they would serve the Faith in the manner described in this verse.

Sayyidna ` Uthmane ؓ said referring to this verse, ثنَا قَبلَ بَلَاء that this verse praises those people before they actually perform the praise-worthy deeds. In due course Allah Ta’ ala's prophecy was fulfilled in that the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Muhajirin (emigrants) from Makkah were indeed those whom the Qur'an described by the words الَّذِينَ أُخْرِ‌جُوا (those who were expelled - 22:40) and when they established their government and held sway over vast territories, they used their power and authority in setting up prayers, strengthening the system of Zakah, enjoining good and forbidding evil deeds. Many scholars are of the view that this verse is a clear evidence of the fact that accession to power of the four Caliphs (خُلفَاے راشدین) is a direct fulfillment of Allah's Prophesy, and the system of caliphate which was set up by them was in accordance with His will.

(Ruh ul-Ma’ ani)Having discussed the factual aspect of the circumstances leading up to the revelation of this verse it must, at the same time, be emphasized that where the Qur'an uses general words and phrases, their purpose is not restricted to a particular situation, but is universally applicable to all similar situations. Following this reasoning, Dahhak says that this verse contains an injunction for all those whom Allah Ta’ ala grants power and authority to do all those things which the Four Caliphs did when they controlled the rule. (Qurtubi)

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

فكثيرًا من القرى الظالمة بكفرها أهلكنا أهلها، فديارهم مهدَّمة خَلَتْ مِن سكانها، وآبارها لا يُستقى منها، وقصورها العالية المزخرفة لم تدفع عن أهلها سوء العذاب.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

ثم قال تعالى : ( فكأين من قرية أهلكناها ) أي : كم من قرية أهلكتها ( وهي ظالمة ) ] أي : مكذبة لرسولها ، ( فهي خاوية على عروشها ) قال الضحاك : سقوفها ، أي : قد خربت منازلها وتعطلت حواضرها .( وبئر معطلة ) أي : لا يستقى منها ، ولا يردها أحد بعد كثرة وارديها والازدحام عليها .( وقصر مشيد ) قال عكرمة : يعني المبيض بالجص .وروي عن علي بن أبي طالب ، ومجاهد ، وعطاء ، وسعيد بن جبير ، وأبي المليح ، والضحاك ، نحو ذلك .وقال آخرون : هو المنيف المرتفع .وقال آخرون : الشديد المنيع الحصين .وكل هذه الأقوال متقاربة ، ولا منافاة بينها ، فإنه لم يحم أهله شدة بنائه ولا ارتفاعه ، ولا إحكامه ولا حصانته ، عن حلول بأس الله بهم ، كما قال تعالى : ( أينما تكونوا يدرككم الموت ولو كنتم في بروج مشيدة ) [ النساء : 78 ] .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.