100 Preface ذٰلِكَ مِن أَنباءِ القُرىٰ نَقُصُّهُ عَلَيكَ ۖ مِنها قائِمٌ وَحَصيدٌYusuf AliThese are some of the stories of communities which We relate unto thee: of them some are standing,1 and some have been mown down (by the sickle of time).2Some are standing, like corn, which is ready to be reaped. Among the communities which remained was, and is, Egypt, although the Pharaoh and his wicked people have been swept away. The simile of standing corn also suggests that at no time can any town or community expect permanency, except in the Law of the Lord.Nations grow and ripen and are mown down. If they disobeyed God, their end is evil; if they were true and godly, their harvest was good.