21:12 Al-Anbiyaa (The Prophets)

وأن هؤلاء المهلكين، لما أحسوا بعذاب الله وعقابه، وباشرهم نزوله، لم يمكن لهم الرجوع ولا طريق لهم إلى النزوع وإنما ضربوا الأرض بأرجلهم، ندما وقلقا، وتحسرا على ما فعلوا وهروبا من وقوعه

" فلما أحسوا بأسنا " أي تيقنوا أن العذاب واقع بهم لا محالة كما وعدهم نبيهم " إذا هم منها يركضون " أي يفرون هاربين.

The Virtue of the Qur'an Here

Allah points out the noble status of the Qur'an and urges them to recognize its worth:

لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَـباً فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ

(Indeed, We have sent down for you a Book in which there is Dhikrukum). Ibn `Abbas said: "Honor for you."

أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ

(Will you not then understand) means, will you not understand this blessing, and accept it This is like the Ayah:

وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَّكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ وَسَوْفَ تُسْـَلُونَ

(And verily, this is indeed a Reminder for you and your people, and you will be questioned.) 43:44

How the Evildoers were destroyed

وَكَمْ قَصَمْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ كَانَتْ ظَـلِمَةً

(How many a town given to wrongdoing, have We destroyed,) meaning, they were very many. This is like the Ayah:

وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مِن بَعْدِ نُوحٍ

(And how many generations have We destroyed after Nuh!) 17:17

فَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَـهَا وَهِىَ ظَالِمَةٌ فَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا

(And many a township did We destroy while they were given to wrongdoing, so that it lie in ruins) 22:45.

وَأَنشَأْنَا بَعْدَهَا قَوْماً ءَاخَرِينَ

(and raised up after them another people!) means, another nation which came after them.

فَلَمَّآ أَحَسُّواْ بَأْسَنَآ

(Then, when they sensed Our torment,) when they realized that the torment would undoubtedly come upon them, just as their Prophet had warned them,

إِذَا هُمْ مِّنْهَا يَرْكُضُونَ

(behold, they (tried to) flee from it.) they tried to run away.

لاَ تَرْكُضُواْ وَارْجِعُواْ إِلَى مَآ أُتْرِفْتُمْ فِيهِ وَمَسَـكِنِكُمْ

(Flee not, but return to that wherein you lived a luxurious life, and to your homes,) This is a way of ridiculing them. It will be said to them by way of ridicule: "Do not run away from the coming torment; go back to the delights and luxuries and fine homes in which you were living." Qatadah said, "Mocking them."

لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْأَلُونَ

(in order that you may be questioned) about whether you gave thanks for what you had.

قَالُواْ يوَيْلَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَـلِمِينَ

(They cried: "Woe to us! Certainly we have been wrong- doers.") They will confess their sins when it will be of no benefit to them.

فَمَا زَالَت تِلْكَ دَعْوَاهُمْ حَتَّى جَعَلْنَـهُمْ حَصِيداً خَـمِدِينَ

(And that cry of theirs ceased not, till We made them as a field that is reaped, extinct.) meaning, "they will keep on saying that, admitting their wrong- doing, until We harvest them as it were, and their movements and voices come to a stop."

And when they felt Our might when the inhabitants of the town sensed destruction to be near behold they ran away from it they flee hastily therefrom.

Commentary

These verses describe the destruction of those settlements which some exegesists have taken as Fladhura' ) حضُوراء) and Qilabah (قلابہ) of Yemen. Allah Ta` ala had sent there a prophet about whose name there are different versions. Some say he was Musa Ibn Misha while others say his name was Shu` aib, in which case he was a different prophet from the one who lived in Madyan. This Prophet was killed by his people, who were, as a punishment annihilated by the infidel King Nabucad Nazzar.

This King was placed in authority over them just as he was used as an instrument for the punishment of Bani Isra'i1 when they strayed from the righteous path in Palestine. In fact, Qur'an has not identified any specific settlement. Hence it will be apt to leave the subject open, so that these settlements of Yemen may also come in its ambit. واللہ (Only Allah knows best).