19. Surah Maryam

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُم مِّن قَرْنٍ هُمْ أَحْسَنُ أَثَاثًا وَرِئْيًا ﴿٧٤﴾

19: 74.  But how many (countless) generations before them have We destroyed, who were even better in equipment and in glitter to the eye?

Other versions:

19:74

Asad And yet, how many a generation have We destroyed before their time – [people] who surpassed them in material power and in outward show!

Yusuf Ali But how many (countless) generations before them have We destroyed who were even better in equipment and in glitter to the eye?

Pickthall How many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were more imposing in respect of gear and outward seeming!

Transliteration Wa kam ahlakna_ qablahum min qarnin hum ahsanu atsa_tsaw wari'ya_

[Asad’s note 60: Lit., “in property” or “abundance of property”. In this context – as in the last verse of this surah – the term “qarn” apparently signifies “people of one and the same epoch”, i.e., a “civilization”. ]