28. Al-Qasas, (The Story)

Mecca Period 49

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ بَطِرَتْ مَعِيشَتَهَا...

28: 58. And how many populations We destroyed, which exulted in their life (of ease and plenty)!

...فَتِلْكَ مَسَاكِنُهُمْ لَمْ تُسْكَن مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا...

Now those habitations of theirs, after them, are deserted -- all but a (miserable) few!

...وَكُنَّا نَحْنُ الْوَارِثِينَ ﴿٥٨﴾

and We are their heirs!

وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَى حَتَّى يَبْعَثَ فِي أُمِّهَا رَسُولًا يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا...

28: 59. Nor was thy Lord the one to destroy a population until He had sent to its Center a Messenger, rehearsing to them Our Signs:

...وَمَا كُنَّا مُهْلِكِي الْقُرَى إِلَّا وَأَهْلُهَا ظَالِمُونَ ﴿٥٩﴾

nor are We going to destroy a population except when its members practice iniquity.

Asad’s translation:

28:58

And how many a community that [once] exulted in its wanton wealth and ease of life have We destroyed, so that those dwelling-places of theirs - all but a few have never been dwelt-in after them: for it is indeed We alone who shall remain when all else will have passed away! 59

(28:59) Yet, withal, thy Sustainer would never destroy a community without having [first] raised in its midst an apostle who would convey unto them Our messages; 60 and never would We destroy a community unless its people are wont to do wrong [to one another]."

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Ali’s comments:

3390. A life of ease and plenty is nothing to boast of. Yet peoples or cities or civilisations grow insolently proud of such things.

There were many such in the past, which are now mere names! Their very sites are deserted in most cases, or buried in the debris of ages.

India is full of such sites nearly everywhere. The sites of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro are the most ancient hitherto unearthed in India, and they are themselves in layers covering centuries of time! And how many more there may be, of which we do not know even names! Fatehpur-Sikri was a magnificent ruin within a single generation. And there are thousands of Qasbas once flourishing and now reduced to small villages or altogether deserted.

But God is merciful and just. He does not destroy or degrade a people until they have had full opportunities of turning in repentance to Him and they have deliberately rejected His Law and continued in the practice of iniquity.

Asad’s comments:

59 Lit., "We are indeed (kunna) the inheritors". For an explanation of my rendering of this phrase, see note 22 on 15:23. The above passage stresses the insignificance and brittleness of all worldly "advantages" as compared with the imperishable good of divine guidance.

60 Sc, "and thus make them aware of the meaning of right and wrong": cf 6:130-132 and the corresponding notes 116 and 117.