The Quran

Preface

۞ أَوَلَم يَسيروا فِي الأَرضِ فَيَنظُروا كَيفَ كانَ عاقِبَةُ الَّذينَ كانوا مِن قَبلِهِم ۚ كانوا هُم أَشَدَّ مِنهُم قُوَّةً وَآثارًا فِي الأَرضِ فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِذُنوبِهِم وَما كانَ لَهُم مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن واقٍ

Yusuf Ali

Do they not travel through the earth and see what was the End of those before them?¹ They were even superior to them in strength, and in the traces (they² Have left) in the land: but God did call them to account for their sins, and none had they to defend them against God.

f. 30:9. and several other similar passages.
See n. 3515 to 30:9. We can learn from the history of previous nations. Many of them were more powerful, or have left finer and more imposing monuments and made a deeper impression on the world around them than any particular generation addressed. “Traces” in the text may be taken in that extended sense. And yet all this did not save them from the consequences of their sins. They were called to account and punished. None of the power or pomp or skill of which they boasted could for a moment ward off the punishment when it came in God’s good time (Cf. 40:82).