وَكَأَيِّن مِن قَريَةٍ عَتَت عَن أَمرِ رَبِّها وَرُسُلِهِ فَحاسَبناها حِسابًا شَديدًا وَعَذَّبناها عَذابًا نُكرًا
How many a town defied the command of its Lord and His apostles, then We called it to a severe account and punished it with a dire punishment.
EXEGESIS
Qaryah (town) is here used figuratively to mean the people of the town, as in 12:82. The word has been said to refer to any place in which people gather, and not just villages or cities. It has also been argued that the term qaryah has been used to make the reader think of their own small community, namely their family. In the context of the subject of the surah (family issues) it is a reminder to look after one’s family and to make sure that one upholds God’s commandments in their dealings with their family.
ʿAtat (defied) comes from ʿutuww, meaning to leave obedience and head into sin and corruption. It is also used to express someone reaching a so-called point of no return, such as Prophet Zachariah (a) reaching old age (19:8), from which there was no more return to youth. So, it can be used to describe a nation or people who have veered far off the course of justice and decency, to the extent that there is no more hope of return for them, Rather, they persist in defiance (ʿutuww) and aversion (67:21). It is at this point, after they have repeatedly turned away from God’s reminders, that destruction may visit such a nation.
Amr was discussed under verse 1. Here it is used in the meaning of the divine command of God that is binding upon all His servants. The singular amr is used because this command is singular in purpose and source, even though it can manifest in a plurality of rulings.
Nukr (dire) is something that reason finds distasteful. It has also been said to mean an evil the like of which has not been seen before. Literally, it means something unknown and is the opposite of ʿirfān (knowledge).
EXPOSITION
The surah now turns its attention to previous nations. As the surah began by drawing the attention of the believers to follow the example of their Prophet (O Prophet! When you divorce women), here it reminds the believers of the consequences of turning away from the teachings of God’s messengers, How many a town defied the command of its Lord and His apostles.
There is a mention of apostles after Lord to emphasise that they are not punished before a messenger of God comes to them: We do not punish [any community] until We have sent [it] an apostle (17:15).
We are then told two major consequences of that defiance, the first of them: then We called it to a severe account. To take to account is to give the recompense of actions. The severe account is to make a person answer for everything they have done, big and small, without overlooking any sin. The reverse of that is the easy accounting reserved for the repentant faithful, Then as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he shall soon receive an easy reckoning (84:7-8). These will joyously wonder how they are not asked about their sins and mistakes.
Part of this severe accounting is also that punishment is hastened, and is not left for only the hereafter, but that the defiant ones must taste a part of their punishment in this life. God asks people, Have they not travelled over the land so that they may observe how was the fate of those who were before them? (35:44); a nation that defied God’s command was often destroyed by terrible calamities and God punished it with a dire punishment. Indeed, Were Allah to take mankind to task because of what they have earned, He would not leave any living being on its [the earth’s] back (35:45), but merciful as He is, He excuses many [an offence] (42:30).
Hence, based on the context, the dire punishment should refer to the worldly punishments visited upon previous nations. It has also been argued that the order of the punishments has been switched chronologically. The punishment of the hereafter is mentioned first (the severe account) and after that the dire punishment of this world, whether it be a natural disaster, a plague, war, or something else. Although some have argued that both the account and the punishment refer to this life, what we mentioned first seems more accurate (that the worldly punishment is a hastened part of the severe account), but it is not necessarily contradictory; rather, this serves to give an added emphasis, as the reader expects the punishment of the hereafter, but it is then followed by a reminder: many have also seen their punishment hastened to this life.
This is also thematically appropriate, as earlier verses promised hastened rewards for the God-wary in this world. Here we are reminded that the opposite holds equally true. Defying the divine command always results in disorder, and the further one strays from it, the more severe the consequences. As the topic of the surah has been the rulings of divorce, the reminder is a poignant one indeed: one should not take the commandments of the shariah lightly and be of those who Should he learn anything about Our signs, he takes them in derision. For such there is a humiliating punishment (45:9).
It has even been said that God has not emphasised any rulings in the Quran more than He has stressed the importance of the rulings regarding women.
It has also been noted that there is a change in narrator from the third person in the beginning (its Lord), to the first person in the end (We called it and We punished). This is to emphasise the severity and gravity of the punishment.
Also noteworthy is the usage of alliterative pairs in the verse. ʿAtat–ʿan, rabbihā-rusulihi, ḥāsabnāhā-ḥisāban, ʿadhdhabnāhā-ʿadhāban. This literary style creates a jarring effect, which mirrors the content and message of the verse of a great calamity befalling a defiant civilisation. Like a terrible earthquake shaking a city’s very foundations, the verse is almost onomatopoeic as it rumbles along with the reverberating harsh sounds of the ḥāʾ, ʿayn, and rāʾ mufakhkham pairs.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
How many a town defied the command of its Lord and His apostles: Tabatabai points out that both the Lord and His apostles are mentioned in the verse to signify that the people were guilty of two denials; they turned away from the worship of God and they ascribed partners to Him, and they also turned away from His messengers by denying them and calling them liars. Alternatively, he suggests they denied God by abandoning His commandments, and they denied the messengers their right of guardianship and disobeyed them.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out ‘Alas!’ because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them. And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak – places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah – wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
[1] Razi, 30/565; Mizan, 19/324; Qurtubi, 18/174.
[2] Nemuneh, 24/255.
[3] Mudarrisi, 16/79.
[4] Tibyan, 10/38.
[5] Raghib, p. 546.
[6] Mudarrisi, 16/81.
[7] Tibyan, 10/38.
[8] Tabrisi, 10/465. Or has only been witnessed rarely before (Nemuneh, 24/255).
[9] Raghib, p. 823.
[10] Tibyan, 10/38; Tabari, 28/97.
[11] Tabrisi, 10/465; Razi, 30/565; Fadlallah, 22/299. Although some have argued that it means the punishment of the hereafter because using past tense for future events is common in the Quran; see for example 7:44, 18:99. This is for example the opinion of Tabari, 28/97; Zamakhshari, 4/560; Baydawi, 5/222; Thalabi, 9/324, Alusi, 14/336.
[12] Tabrisi, 10/465; Razi, 30/565; Thalabi, 9/324; Baghawi, 5/114.
[13] Nemuneh, 24/256; Mizan, 19/323-324.
[14] Mizan, 19/323.
[15] Mizan, 19/324.
[16] Tafkhīm rāʾ is a rule utilised in tajwīd, or proper recitation of the Quran, whereby a rāʾ is pronounced by placing the tongue in the middle of the mouth (as opposed to behind the front teeth in tarqīq) for a thicker, harsher sound.
[17] Mizan, 19/323; see also verse 64:12.
[18] Ezekiel 6:10-14.