Surah Rum ayat 9 Tafsir Quran 30:9

﴿أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ۚ كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَأَثَارُوا الْأَرْضَ وَعَمَرُوهَا أَكْثَرَ مِمَّا عَمَرُوهَا وَجَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ۖ فَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ وَلَٰكِن كَانُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ﴾
[ الروم: 9]

30:9 Have they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were greater than them in power, and they plowed the earth and built it up more than they have built it up, and their messengers came to them with clear evidences. And Allah would not ever have wronged them, but they were wronging themselves.

Have they not travelled in the land and beheld how was the consequence for those before them? of past communities which was that they were destroyed for denying their messengers. They were more powerful than them — such were ‘Ād and Thamūd — and they effected the land they tilled it and churned it up to sow crops and cultivate trees and developed it more than these the Meccan disbelievers have developed it; and their messengers brought them clear signs manifest proofs for God would never wrong them by destroying them without being guilty but they used to wrong themselves by denying their messengers.

Have they -the Meccans- not journeyed through the land and looked with their minds eyes to see what was the end of those who preceded them, who wore far mightier and their diligence never wearied! They broke up the earth and turned over the soil and populated and peopled the land far more than these people have done! Their Messengers presented them with convincing divine signs and revelations -but they closed their, minds eyes and counselled deaf-. Therefore it was not Allah Who would wrong them but it was they who wronged themselves

فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُواْ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً ( 9.
cont - and see what was the end of those before them They were superior to them in strength, ) meaning, `the nations of the past who came before you were stronger than you to whom Muhammad ﷺ has been sent; they had more wealth and more sons.
You have not been given one-tenth of what they were given.
They stayed longer in this world than you will stay.
They were more civilized than you and were more prosperous in the land than you.' Yet despite all that, when their Messengers came to them with clear signs, while they were enjoying their life of luxury, Allah punished them for their sins and they had no one who could protect them from Allah.
Their wealth and sons could not protect them from the wrath of Allah in the slightest, and Allah was not at all unjust towards them when He sent His punishment upon them. وَلَـكِن كَانُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ ( 9.
cont - but they used to wrong themselves. ) They brought destruction upon themselves, when they rejected and mocked the signs of Allah.
All of this only happened because of their previous sins and their rejection ( of the Messengers ).
Allah says:

(30:9) Have they not travelled through the earth that they may observe what was the end of their predecessors *8 who were far mightier and tilled the land *9 and built upon it more than these have ever built? *10 And Allah's Messengers came to them with Clear Signs. *11 It was not Allah Who wronged them, but it is they who wronged themselves. *12

Have they not traveled through the earth meaning

*8) This is an historical argument for the Hereafter.
It means this: " The Hereafter has not been denied only by a couple of the people in the world, but a large number of them have been involved in this disbelief in human history.
Even there have been entire nations which either denied it altogether or lived heedless of it, or invented such false beliefs about life-after-death as rendered the concept of the Hereafter meaningless.
Then the continuous experience of history reveals that in whatever form the Hereafter has been denied, its inevitable result has been that the people became corrupted morally, they lived irresponsible lives they transgressed all limits of tyranny and wickedness, which became the cause of the destruction of one nation after the other.
Does not this experience of thousands of years of history, which has been faced by human generations successively, prove that the Hereafter is a reality whose denial is fatal to man? Man has come to believe in gravitation only because he has always experienced and seen material things falling to the ground.
He has recognized poison to be poison only because whoever took poison died.
Similarly, when the denial of the Hereafter has always Ied to the corruption of morals for man, is not this experience enough to teach the lesson that the Hereafter is a reality, and to live one's life heedless of it is dangerous?
*9) The words athar-ul- and in the original may either mean to plough the land for cultivation, or to dig the earth for taking out canals, underground water channels, minerals, etc.

*10) This contains an answer to the argument of those who regard mere material progress as the sign of a nation's being righteous.
They argue like this: "Haw is it possible that Allah will make fuel of Hell those people who have exploited the resources of the earth on such a large scale, who have constructed wonderful works on the earth and given birth to grand civilizations ?" The Qur'an refutes this argument, thus: "Such works of construction have been built before also by many nations on a large scale.
Then, have you not seen that those nations have perished along with their civilization and their grand and magnificent " works " ? There is no reason why the Law of God that has so treated in the world the mere material progress of a people lacking the right belief and conduct, will not treat them likewise in the Next World and make them fuel of Hell."
*11) That is, "They came with such Signs as were sufficient for anyone to be convinced of their being the true Prophets." The mention of the coming of the Prophets in this context implies this: "On the one hand, there are evidences in man's own self, and in the universe around him, and in the continuous experience of human history, and, on the other, there also came such Prophets, one after the other, who showed clear Signs of their being true Prophets and warned ( the people ) that the Hereafter is sure to come."
*12) That is, "The destruction that overtook those nations afterwards was not due to Allah's being unjust to them but due to the injustice they had done to themselves.
The person ( or persons ) who neither thinks rightly himself nor adopts the right attitude by listening to others, will be himself responsible for his evil end if he meets destruction.
God cannot be blamed for this, for God has not only made arrangements for conveying to man the knowledge of the reality through His Books and His Prophets, but also blessed tnan with the intellectual resources and powers by exploiting which he can always judge the authenticity of the knowledge brought by the Prophets and the Divine Books.
Had God deprived man of this guidance and these resources and he had to meet with the consequences of following a wrong way then doubtlessly could God have been blamed for injustice."
 

فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُواْ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً ( 9.
cont - and see what was the end of those before them They were superior to them in strength, ) meaning, `the nations of the past who came before you were stronger than you to whom Muhammad ﷺ has been sent; they had more wealth and more sons.
You have not been given one-tenth of what they were given.
They stayed longer in this world than you will stay.
They were more civilized than you and were more prosperous in the land than you.' Yet despite all that, when their Messengers came to them with clear signs, while they were enjoying their life of luxury, Allah punished them for their sins and they had no one who could protect them from Allah.
Their wealth and sons could not protect them from the wrath of Allah in the slightest, and Allah was not at all unjust towards them when He sent His punishment upon them. وَلَـكِن كَانُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ ( 9.
cont - but they used to wrong themselves. ) They brought destruction upon themselves, when they rejected and mocked the signs of Allah.
All of this only happened because of their previous sins and their rejection ( of the Messengers ).
Allah says:

( Have they not travelled ) i.e. the disbelievers of Mecca ( in the land and seen ) and reflect upon ( the nature of the consequence for ) the requital of ( those who were before them ) when they disbelieved in their messengers? ( They were stronger than these in power ) in physical strength, ( and they dug the earth ) for agriculture more than the people of Mecca did; it is also said that this means: they travelled more for their trade ( and built upon it ) and lived in their buildings ( more than these have built ) more than the period in which the people of Mecca lived in their buildings. ( Messengers of their own came unto them with clear proofs (of Allah’s Sovereignty )) with commands, prohibitions and signs but they disbelieved and Allah, Exalted is He, destroyed them because of their disbelief. ( Surely Allah wronged them not ) when He destroyed them, ( but they did wrong themselves ) through their disbelief, idolatry and denial of the messengers.

Do they not travel in the land, and see what was the end of those before them? They were superior to them in strength, and they tilled the earth and populated it in greater numbers than these (pagans) have done, and there came to them their Messengers with clear proofs. Surely, Allah wronged them not, but they used to wrong themselves.

Page 405 English transliteration