6. Sura al-Anam

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَقَدْ كَذَّبُواْ بِالْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءهُمْ...

6: 5. And now they reject the truth when it reaches them:

...فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِيهِمْ أَنبَاء مَا كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِؤُونَ ﴿٥﴾

but soon shall they learn the reality of what they used to mock at.

أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم ...

6: 6. See they not how many of those before them We did destroy?

C839. Now comes the argument from history, looking backwards and forwards.

If we are so short-sighted or arrogant as to suppose that we are firmly established on this earth, secure in our privileges, we are reminded of much greater nations in the past, who failed in their duty and ere wiped out. In their fate we must read our own fate, if we fail likewise! But those without faith, instead of facing facts squarely "turn away therefrom."

... مِّن قَرْنٍ مَّكَّنَّاهُمْ فِي الأَرْضِ مَا لَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّكُمْ...

Generations We had established on the earth, in strength such as We have not given to you,

وَأَرْسَلْنَا السَّمَاء عَلَيْهِم مِّدْرَارًا وَجَعَلْنَا الأَنْهَارَ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهِمْ ...

for whom We poured out rain from the skies in abundance, and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet):

... فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ ...

yet for their sins We destroyed them,

...وَأَنْشَأْنَا مِن بَعْدِهِمْ قَرْنًا آخَرِينَ ﴿٦﴾

and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them).

Other versions:

6: 5 [al-Anam, Mecca 55]

Yusuf Ali And now they reject the truth when it reaches them: but soon shall they learn the reality of what they used to mock at.

Pickthall And they denied the truth when it came unto them. But there will come unto them the tidings of that which they used to deride.

Transliteration Fa qad kazzabu_ bil haqqi lamma_ ja_'ahum, fa saufa ya'tihim amba_'u ma_ ka_nu_ bihi yastahzi'u_n(a).

6: 6

Yusuf Ali See they not how many of those before them We did destroy? Generations We had established on the earth in strength such as We have not given to you for whom We poured out rain from the skies in abundance and gave (fertile) streams flowing beneath their (feet): yet for their sins We destroyed them and raised in their wake fresh generations (to succeed them).

Pickthall See they not how many a generation We destroyed before them, whom We had established in the earth more firmly than We have established you, and We shed on them abundant showers from the sky, and made the rivers flow beneath them. Yet We destroyed them for their sins, and created after them another generation.

Transliteration Alam yarau kam ahlakna_ min qablihim min qarnim makkan na_hum filardi ma_ lam numakkil lakum wa arsalnas sama_'a 'alaihim midra_ra_(w), wa ja'alnal anha_ra tajri min tahtihim fa ahlakna_hum bi zunu_bihim wa ansya'nu_ mim ba'dihim qarnan a_kharin(a).

[[Ali’s note - 839 Now comes the argument from history, looking backwards and forwards. If we are so short-sighted or arrogant as to suppose that we are firmly established on this earth, secure in our privileges, we are reminded of much greater nations in the past, who failed in their duty and were wiped out. In their fate we must read our own fate, if we fail likewise! But those without faith, instead of facing facts squarely "turn away therefrom." [6.6]]

840 A) Qirtas, in the Apostle's life, could only mean "parchment," which was commonly used as writing material in Western Asia from the 2nd century B.C. The word was derived from the Greek, Charles (Cf. Latin, "Charta"). Paper, as we know it, made from rags, was first used by the Arabs after the conquest of Samarqand in 751 A.D. The Chinese had used it by the 2nd century B.C. The Arabs introduced it into Europe; it was used in Greece in the 11th and 12th century, and in Spain through Sicily in the 12th century. The Papyrus, made from an Egyptian reed, was in Egypt as early as 2500 B.C. It gave place to paper in Egypt in the 10th century. (6.7) ]]

[[ Ruby’s note – Learning from the past is a directive of the Quran so is learning from the reality. What we see in our life, around us, in the causes and consequences around us and in the world are all signs of God that should lead to understanding of the truth better if seriously heeded and seriously considered. The Quran is not only the signs of God, the Quran itself expounding that the signs are also in the reality to decipher and learn. The term ‘ayat’ is used for both the verse of the Quran as well as for the things that are given in the reality and the nature and the environment.]]

3:137 Ways of life have passed away before your time. Go, then, about the earth and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth: (138) this (should be) a clear lesson unto all men and a guidance and an admonition unto the God-conscious.