You are here: Home » Chapter 17 » Verse 16 » Translation
Sura 17
Aya 16
16
وَإِذا أَرَدنا أَن نُهلِكَ قَريَةً أَمَرنا مُترَفيها فَفَسَقوا فيها فَحَقَّ عَلَيهَا القَولُ فَدَمَّرناها تَدميرًا

Muhammad Asad

But when [this has been done, and] it is Our will to destroy a community, We convey Our last warning1 to those of its people who have lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures;2 and [if] they [continue to] act sinfully, the sentence [of doom] passed on the community takes effect, and We break it to smithereens.
  • Lit.. "Our command", i e., to mend their ways. The term qaryak (ht., "town") denotes usually - though not always - a "community" or "people of a community".
  • I.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations. (For the above rendering of the expression mutraf, see surah 11, note 147.) The people referred to here are those who, by virtue of their wealth and social position, embody the real leadership of their community and are, therefore, morally responsible for the behaviour of their followers.