Ma'arif al-Qur'an · Tafsir · in English
Adh-Dhariyat 51:34–37
51:34–37Page 522
مُّسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَبِّكَ لِلۡمُسۡرِفِينَ ٣٤
Marked in the presence of your Lord for the transgressors."
فَأَخۡرَجۡنَا مَن كَانَ فِيهَا مِنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ ٣٥
So We brought out whoever was in them [i.e., the cities] of the believers.
فَمَا وَجَدۡنَا فِيهَا غَيۡرَ بَيۡتٖ مِّنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ ٣٦
And We found not within them other than a [single] house of Muslims.1
وَتَرَكۡنَا فِيهَآ ءَايَةٗ لِّلَّذِينَ يَخَافُونَ ٱلۡعَذَابَ ٱلۡأَلِيمَ ٣٧
And We left therein a sign for those who fear the painful punishment.
Small pebbles of baked clay would be sent down upon them: مُّسَوَّمَةً عِندَ رَبِّكَ "marked, with your Lord, for the transgressors."... 51:34), that is, pebbles conspicuously marked by Allah. Some scholars say that each stone bore the name of the person with which he was to be destroyed, and if he ran in any particular direction, he was pursued by the same stone. Other verses say that these people were destroyed by Jibra'il's (علیہ السلام) turning their territory upside down. The two descriptions of the punishment are not mutually contradictory: Probably, the stoning incident took place first, and then the earth was turned upside down.
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences