The Quran

112

Preface

ضُرِبَت عَلَيهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ أَينَ ما ثُقِفوا إِلّا بِحَبلٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَحَبلٍ مِنَ النّاسِ وَباءوا بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَضُرِبَت عَلَيهِمُ المَسكَنَةُ ۚ ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُم كانوا يَكفُرونَ بِآياتِ اللَّهِ وَيَقتُلونَ الأَنبِياءَ بِغَيرِ حَقٍّ ۚ ذٰلِكَ بِما عَصَوا وَكانوا يَعتَدونَ

Yusuf Ali

Shame is pitched over them¹ (Like a tent) wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) from God and from men; they draw on themselves wrath from God, and pitched over them is (the tent of) destitution. This because they rejected the Signs of God, and slew the prophets in defiance of right²; this because they rebelled and transgressed beyond bounds.

Duribat; I think there is a simile from the pitching of a tent. Ordinarily a man’s tent is a place of tranquillity and honour for him. The tent of the wicked wherever they are found is ignominy, shame, and humiliation. It is pity from God or from men that gives them protection when their pride has a fall. Using the same simile of a tent in another way, their home will be destitution and misery.
Cf. 3:21, n. 363.