The Rock, Stoneland, Rock City — Verse 4
15:4 · al-Hijr
Verse display
وَمَاۤ أَهۡلَكۡنَا مِن قَرۡیَةٍ إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابࣱ مَّعۡلُومࣱ ٤
wamā ahlaknā min qaryatin illā walahā kitābun maʿlūmu
The Rock, Stoneland, Rock City / al-Hijr (15:4)
Never have We destroyed a community that did not have a set time
wamā ahlaknā min qaryatin illā walahā kitābun maʿlūmu
Get a Print Copy
Support the Author
As an Amazon Associate, ParallelQuran earns from qualifying purchases.
Qur'an Tools
Tafsir Commentary
Every Township has its allotted Time
Allah is informing us that He never destroys a township until He has established evidences for it and its allotted time has ended. When the time for a nation's destruction has come, He never delays it, and He never moves its appointed time forward. This was a message and a warning to the people of Makkah, telling them to give up their Shirk, their stubbornness and disbelief for which they deserved to be destroyed.
And We did not destroy any town min qaryatin min is extra meaning its inhabitants but that it had a known decree a pre-determined term after which it would be destroyed.
وإذا طلبوا نزول العذاب بهم تكذيبًا لك -أيها الرسول- فإنا لا نُهْلك قرية إلا ولإهلاكها أجل مقدَّر، لا نُهْلكهم حتى يبلغوه، مثل مَن سبقهم.
يخبر تعالى أنه ما أهلك قرية إلا بعد قيام الحجة عليها وانتهاء أجلها.
ثم قرر - سبحانه - أن هلاك الأمم الظالمة ، موقوف بوقت محدد فى علمه ، وأن سنته فى ذلك ماضية لا تتخلف ، فقال - تعالى - ( وَمَآ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ إِلاَّ وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَّعْلُومٌ مَّا تَسْبِقُ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلَهَا وَمَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ ) .و ( من ) فى قوله ( من قرية ) و ( من أمة ) للتأكيد . والمراد بالقرية أهلها .والمراد بالكتاب المعلوم : الوقت المحدد فى علم الله - تعالى - لهلاكها ، شبه بالكتاب لكونه لا يقبل الزيادة أو النقص . والأجل : مدة الشئ .أى : وما أهلكنا من قرية من القرى الظالم أهلها ، إلا ولهلاكها وقت محدد فى علمنا المحيط بكل شئ ، ومحال أن تسبق أمة من الأمم أجلها المقدر لها أو تتأخر عنه .قال ابن جرير - رحمه الله - عند تفسيره لهاتين الآيتين ما ملخصه : " يقول - تعالى - ذكره - ( وما أهلكنا ) يا محمد ( أهل قرية ) من القرى التى أهلكنا أهلها فيما مضى : ( إِلاَّ وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَّعْلُومٌ ) أى : أجل مؤقت ومدة معروفة ، لا نهلكهم حتى يبلغوها ، فإذا بلغوها أهلكناهم عند ذلك . . دون أن يتقدم هلاكهم عن ذلك أو يتأخر " .وجملة ( إِلاَّ وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَّعْلُومٌ ) فى محل نصب على الحال من قرية ، وصح ذلك لأن كلمة قرية وإن كانت نكرة ، إلا أن وقوعها فى سياق النفى سوغ مجىء الحال منها .أى : ما أهلكناها فى حال من الأحوال ، إلا فى حال بلوغها نهاية المدة المقدرة لبقائها دون تقديم أو تأخير .قال - تعالى - ( وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ فَإِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلاَ يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ ).
يقول تعالى ذكره ( وَمَا أَهْلَكْنَا ) يا محمد ( مِنْ ) أهل ( قَرْيَةٍ ) من أهل القرى التي أهلكنا أهلها فيما مضى ( إِلا وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَعْلُومٌ ) يقول: إلا ولها أجل مؤقَّت ومدة معروفة ، لا نهلكهم حتى يبلغوها، فإذا بلغوها أهلكناهم عند ذلك ، فيقول لنبيه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فكذلك أهل قريتك التي أنت منها وهي مكة، لا نهلك مشركي أهلها إلا بعد بلوغ كتابهم أجله، لأن مِنْ قضائي أن لا أهلك أهل قرية إلا بعد بلوغ كتابهم أجله.
( وما أهلكنا من قرية ) أي : من أهل قرية ( إلا ولها كتاب معلوم ) أي : أجل مضروب لا يتقدم عليه ، ولا يأتيهم العذاب حتى يبلغوه ، ولا يتأخر عنهم .
اعتراض تذييلي لأن في هذه الجملة حكماً يشملهم وهو حكم إمهال الأمم التي حق عليها الهلاك ، أي ما أهلكنا أمّة إلا وقد متّعناها زمناً وكان لهلاكها أجل ووقت محدود ، فهي ممتعة قبل حلوله ، وهي مأخوذة عند إبانه .وهذا تعريض لتهديد ووعيد مؤيدٌ بتنظيرهم بالمكذبين السالفين .وإنما ذكر حال القرى التي أهلكت من قبلُ لتذكير هؤلاء بسنّة الله في إمهال الظالمين لئلا يغرّهم ما هم فيه من التمتع فيحسبوا أنهم أفلتوا من الوعيد . وهذا تهديد لا يقتضي أن المشركين قدر الله أجلاً لهلاكهم ، فإن الله لم يستأصلهم ولكن هدى كثيراً منهم إلى الإسلام بالسيف وأهلك سادتهم يوم بدر .والقَرْية : المدينة . وتقدمت عند قوله تعالى : { أو كالذي مرّ على قرية } في سورة البقرة ( 259 ).والكتاب : القَدَر المحدود عند الله . شبّه بالكتاب في أنه لا يقبل الزيادة والنقص . وهو معلوم عند الله ، لا يضلّ ربي ولا ينسى .وجملة ولها كتاب معلوم } في موضع الحال ، وكفاك علماً على ذلك اقترانها بالواو فهي استثناء من عموم أحوال ، وصاحب الحال هو { قرية } وهو وإن كان نكرة فإن وقوعها في سياق النفي سوّغ مجيء الحال منه كما سوّغ العموم صحة الإخبار عن النكرة .
{ وَمَا أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ } كانت مستحقة للعذاب { إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابٌ مَعْلُومٌ } مقدر لإهلاكها.
قوله تعالى : وما أهلكنا من قرية إلا ولها كتاب معلوم أي أجل مؤقت كتب لهم في اللوح المحفوظ .
The freedom enjoyed by man will last only for the duration of the period of testing. This is a very critical issue. If a man seriously thinks this problem over, he will feel that the period which is going to end tomorrow has, as it were, ended today itself. This thought will shake him terribly. But man lives his life in ‘today’. He does not pay attention to ‘tomorrow’. Reality lies exposed before him, but he remains engrossed in wishful thinking. He seeks out some imaginary supports of his own devising and thinks that they will help him on the Day of Judgement. But such wishful thinking will not come to his rescue when the period of testing is over and God’s angels come to take him away from the world of trial to the world of retribution. At a time like this, he starts remembering the occasions when he had tried to reject a genuine argument by mouthing false words; when he had ignored the voice of his conscience and followed the desires of the self; when purely out of self-interest he had ignored the divine preacher of truth, in spite of seeing glimpses of God in him. When he sees that no device of his has been of any avail, he will say, ‘Alas! I should not have done what I have done! I should have adopted the way of one who surrenders to the Truth instead of the way of one who rejects the Truth.’
Commentary
From: ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُوا (Let them eat ...3) we can see that the making of eating and drinking the real occupation and aim of life, and keeping glued to long-drawn material plans while surrounded by countless things of worldly comfort, and becoming totally heedless to death, is something which can be done only by the disbelievers. The reason is that they do not believe in the 'Akhirah, the life to come, and the accounting of deeds there, and the reward and punishment for it. As for eating and drinking, a believer does it too, and takes care of economic needs to the measure of necessity, and makes future plans for occupation and business as well. But, a believer would not make all these efforts by forget-ting death and ignoring the concern for 'Akhirah. Therefore, he is careful about everything he does and finds out whether it is Halal or Haram, permissible or forbidden. Then, he does not occupy himself in the making of wasteful or unnecessary plans and projections, as hobby or compulsion. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Four things are signs of being unfortunate: (1) Not being able to shed tears (that is, not being in tears when ashamed of acts of negligence and sin); (2) and hard-heartedness; (3) fanciful hopes and plans for the future; (4) and the greed for worldly things. (Qurtubi from Musnad al-Bazzar from Sayyidna Anas ؓ
And the expression: يُلْهِهِمُ الْأَمَلُ 'let (their) fancy make them neglectful' means the making of long-drawn plans with engrossing love, and the greed for the material without any concern for death and 'Akhirah. (Qurtubi). As for plans made to achieve religious objectives, or those made to guard the future interests of a people or country, they are not included here - because, that is a form of the concern for 'Akhirah itself.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The first set of people from this Ummah will have their salvation because of their perfect faith, and avoidance of the pursuit of the material (dunya); and the later people of the Ummah will be destroyed because of miserliness, and fancies projected too far.
It has been reported from Sayyidna Abu Ad-Darda' ؓ that he stood up on the Mimbar of Jami' Masjid of Damascus and said:
'0 people of Damascus, would you listen to what this well-wishing brother of yours has to say? So, listen to me. There have been big people before you who made big money, collected gold and things, built magnificent palaces and made long-hauled plans and projections for the future. Today they are dust. Their residences are their graves. And all their long winded hopes and plans have proved to be no more than a web of deception. Close to you lived the people of ` Ad who had stuffed their country with their fighting men, wealth, means, possessions, arms and horses. Is there someone around who would be ready to buy what they left behind as their legacy for two silver dirhams from me?'
Imam Al-Hasan Al-Basri (رح) said: A person with long plans, hopes and fancies is bound to ruin his proper conduct in life. (Al-Qurtubi)
(And We destroyed no township) We destroyed no people of a township (but there was a known decree for it) except that there is an appointed term for their destruction.