8:52 Al-Anfaal (The Spoils of War)

كَدَأْبِ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ ‏{‏من الأمم المكذبة‏}‏ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ ‏{‏بالعقاب‏}‏ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِيٌّ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ‏{‏لا يعجزه أحد يريد أخذه‏}‏ مَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَا

قوله تعالى:"كدأب أل فرعون والذين من قبلهم كفروا بأيات الله فأخذهم الله بذنوبهم إن الله قوي شديد العقاب " يقول تعالى فعل هؤلاء من المشركين المكذبين بما أرسلت به يا محمد كما فعل الأمم المكذبة قبلهم ففعلنا بهم ما هو دأبنا أي عادتنا وسنتنا في أمثالهم من المكذبين من آل فرعون ومن قبلهم من الأمم المكذبة بالرسل الكافرين بآيات الله "فأخذهم الله بذنوبهم" أي بسبب ذنوبهم أهلكهم وأخذهم أخذ عزيز مقتدر "إن الله قوي شديد العقاب" أي لا يغلبه غالب ولا يفوته هارب.

Allah says, `The behavior of these rebellious disbelievers against what I sent you with, O Muhammad, is similar to the behavior of earlier disbelieving nations. So We behaved with them according to Our Da'b, that is, Our behavior or custom and way, as We did with them with what We often do and decide concerning their likes, the denying people of Fir`awn and the earlier nations who rejected the Messengers and disbelieved in Our Ayat,'

فَأَخَذَهُمُ اللَّهُ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ

(so Allah punished them for their sins.)

Because of their sins, Allah destroyed them

إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَوِىٌّ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ

(Verily, Allah is All-Strong, severe in punishment.)

none can resist Him or escape His grasp.

The way of these people is like the way of Pharaoh’s folk and those before them they disbelieved in God’s signs and so God seized them with chastisement because of their sins the sentence beginning with kafarū ‘they disbelieved’ explains the previous one. Truly God is strong in what He wills severe in retribution.

The third verse (52) tells us that the punishment of Allah visiting these criminals is not something totally unprecedented. In fact, it is nothing but the customary practice of Allah that He would give reason and understanding to His servants so that they could act as guided. Then, all around them, they have countless things they can think about and go on to know Allah Ta` ala and recognize His great power, and then do not stoop to the level of taking the weak ones from among His creation as His partners, associates or equals and, after that, He sends His Books and Messengers for additional warning. When the Messengers of Allah come, they leave no stone unturned in making people understand the message. They even go to the outer limits of demonstrating the manifestations of the inalienable subduing power of Allah Ta` ala in the form of miracles. Now, if a person or a people were to close their eyes to all these things, give no ear to any of these Divine warnings, then, for such people, there is the inevitable practice of Allah Ta` ala: That they are visited by punishment in this world too, and that they are subjected to the everlasting punishment of the Hereafter as well. It was said: كَدَأْبِ آلِ فِرْ‌عَوْنَ ۙ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ ' (Their way is) like the way of the people of Pharaoh and of those before them - 52.' The Arabic word: دَأْبِ (da'b) used in the text means habit or way. Thus, the sense is that the world already knows the customary practice of Allah Ta` ala vis-a-vis the haughty and the contumacious like Pharaoh and his people and has seen its manifestation when Pharaoh was made to drown in the sea with all his power and people, and similar was the fate of those before him, the people of ` Ad and Thamud, who were hit by many kinds of punishment which eliminated them totally. Then, it was said: كَفَرُ‌وا (52) which means when these people belied the verses and signs of Allah Ta` ala, He seized them with His punishment because of their sins. After that, the verse ends with the statement: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ (52) which gives the reason why it happened the way it did - that Allah Ta` ala is Strong. No one claiming any kind of strength and valour can, on that basis alone, get away from His punishment. And then, certainly very severe is the punishment which comes from Allah Ta` ala Himself.