Surah Yasin ayat 31 Tafsir Quran 36:31

﴿أَلَمْ يَرَوْا كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُم مِّنَ الْقُرُونِ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لَا يَرْجِعُونَ﴾
[ يس: 31]

36:31 Have they not considered how many generations We destroyed before them - that they to them will not return?

Have they — that is those inhabitants of Mecca who said to the Prophet ‘You have not been sent by God!’ Q. 1343 — not seen not come to know the interrogative is meant rhetorically as an affirmative how many kam here is predicative as opposed to interrogative in other words it is to be understood as kathīran ‘many’; it is operated by the statement that comes next below and it comments on the operative clause for the statement that preceded it; the meaning then is as follows indeed many generations communities We have destroyed before them how that they the ones destroyed never return? to those deniers who are now alive? So will they not learn from their example? from annahum ‘how that they’ to the end of the verse is a substitution for the preceding clause kam ahlaknā qablahum mina’l-qurūni bearing in mind the aforementioned general meaning.

Do they not perceive by sight, apprehend by thought and learn by reading how many generations who existed before them We have destroyed and they had gone whence they shall not return

Woe to the Disbelievers! `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on the Ayah: يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ ( Alas for mankind! ), this means, woe to mankind! Qatadah said: يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ ( Alas for mankind! ) means, "Alas for mankind, who have neglected the command of Allah." The meaning is that they will feel regret and sorrow on the Day of Resurrection.
When they see the punishment with their own eyes; they will regret how they disbelieved the Messengers of Allah and went against the commands of Allah, for they used to disbelieve in them in this world. مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ ( There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him. ) means, they disbelieved him and made fun of him, and rejected the message of truth with which he had been sent. The Refutation of the Belief in the Transmigration of Souls Then Allah says: أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِّنَ الْقُرُونِ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لاَ يَرْجِعُونَ ( Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them Verily, they will not return to them. ) meaning, `do you not learn a lesson from those whom Allah destroyed before you of those who disbelieved in the Messengers They came to this world only once, and will not return to it.' It is not as many of those ignorant and immoral people claim that إِنْ هِىَ إِلاَّ حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا ( "There is nothing but our life of this world! We die and we live!" ) ( 23:37 ).
This was the belief in the cycle of reincarnation; in their ignorance they believed that they would come back to this world as they had been before.
But Allah refuted their false belief and said: أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِّنَ الْقُرُونِ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لاَ يَرْجِعُونَ ( Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them Verily, they will not return to them. ) Allah's saying: وَإِن كُلٌّ لَّمَّا جَمِيعٌ لَّدَيْنَا مُحْضَرُونَ ( And surely, all -- everyone of them will be brought before Us. ) means, all of the past nations and those that are yet to come, will be gathered and brought to account before Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, on the Day of Judgement, and they will be requitted according to their good and evil deeds.
This is like the Ayah: وَإِنَّ كُـلاًّ لَّمَّا لَيُوَفِّيَنَّهُمْ رَبُّكَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ ( And verily, to each of them your Lord will repay their works in full. ) ( 11:111 ).

(36:31) Have they not seen how many nations before them did We destroy? Thereafter they never came back to them. *25

Have they not considered how many generations meaning

*25) That is, they were annihilated so completely that not a trace of them was left behind them.
No one in the world even remembers them today.
Their civilization as well as their race has become extinct.

 

Woe to the Disbelievers! `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on the Ayah: يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ ( Alas for mankind! ), this means, woe to mankind! Qatadah said: يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ ( Alas for mankind! ) means, "Alas for mankind, who have neglected the command of Allah." The meaning is that they will feel regret and sorrow on the Day of Resurrection.
When they see the punishment with their own eyes; they will regret how they disbelieved the Messengers of Allah and went against the commands of Allah, for they used to disbelieve in them in this world. مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ ( There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him. ) means, they disbelieved him and made fun of him, and rejected the message of truth with which he had been sent. The Refutation of the Belief in the Transmigration of Souls Then Allah says: أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِّنَ الْقُرُونِ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لاَ يَرْجِعُونَ ( Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them Verily, they will not return to them. ) meaning, `do you not learn a lesson from those whom Allah destroyed before you of those who disbelieved in the Messengers They came to this world only once, and will not return to it.' It is not as many of those ignorant and immoral people claim that إِنْ هِىَ إِلاَّ حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا ( "There is nothing but our life of this world! We die and we live!" ) ( 23:37 ).
This was the belief in the cycle of reincarnation; in their ignorance they believed that they would come back to this world as they had been before.
But Allah refuted their false belief and said: أَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُمْ مِّنَ الْقُرُونِ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ لاَ يَرْجِعُونَ ( Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them Verily, they will not return to them. ) Allah's saying: وَإِن كُلٌّ لَّمَّا جَمِيعٌ لَّدَيْنَا مُحْضَرُونَ ( And surely, all -- everyone of them will be brought before Us. ) means, all of the past nations and those that are yet to come, will be gathered and brought to account before Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, on the Day of Judgement, and they will be requitted according to their good and evil deeds.
This is like the Ayah: وَإِنَّ كُـلاًّ لَّمَّا لَيُوَفِّيَنَّهُمْ رَبُّكَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ ( And verily, to each of them your Lord will repay their works in full. ) ( 11:111 ).

( Have they not seen ) have the disbelievers of Mecca not been informed ( how many generations ) past nations ( We destroyed before them, which indeed return not unto them ) that is until the Day of Judgement;

Do they not see how many of the generations We have destroyed before them? Verily, they will not return to them.

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