78 Preface فَأَخَذَتهُمُ الرَّجفَةُ فَأَصبَحوا في دارِهِم جاثِمينَYusuf AliSo the earthquake took them1 unawares, and they lay prostrate in their homes in the morning! The retribution was not long delayed. A terrible earthquake came and buried the people and destroyed their boasted civilisation. The calamity must have been fairly extensive in area and intense in the terror it inspired, for it is described (54:31) as a “single mighty blast” (sayhatan wahidatan), the sort of terror-inspiring noise which accompanies all big earthquakes.