Ma'arif al-Qur'an · Tafsir · in English
Al-Haqqah 69:7–12
69:7–12Page 566
سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيۡهِمۡ سَبۡعَ لَيَالٖ وَثَمَٰنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومٗاۖ فَتَرَى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ فِيهَا صَرۡعَىٰ كَأَنَّهُمۡ أَعۡجَازُ نَخۡلٍ خَاوِيَةٖ ٧
Which He [i.e., Allāh] imposed upon them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so you would see the people therein fallen as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.
فَهَلۡ تَرَىٰ لَهُم مِّنۢ بَاقِيَةٖ ٨
Then do you see of them any remains?
وَجَآءَ فِرۡعَوۡنُ وَمَن قَبۡلَهُۥ وَٱلۡمُؤۡتَفِكَٰتُ بِٱلۡخَاطِئَةِ ٩
And there came Pharaoh and those before him and the overturned cities1 with sin.
فَعَصَوۡاْ رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمۡ فَأَخَذَهُمۡ أَخۡذَةٗ رَّابِيَةً ١٠
And they disobeyed the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with a seizure exceeding [in severity].
إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا ٱلۡمَآءُ حَمَلۡنَٰكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡجَارِيَةِ ١١
Indeed, when the water overflowed, We carried you [i.e., your ancestors] in the sailing ship1
لِنَجۡعَلَهَا لَكُمۡ تَذۡكِرَةٗ وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٞ وَٰعِيَةٞ ١٢
That We might make it for you a reminder and [that] a conscious ear would be conscious of it.
سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ (seven nights and eight consecutive days'... 69:7). According to some of the narratives, the punishment of windstorm started on Wednesday morning, and lasted till the following Wednesday evening. In this way, it makes up eight days and seven nights.
The word husuman (in verse 7) is the plural of hasim and means 'cutting them off entirely' or 'causing them to perish completely'.
The word مُؤْتَفِكَاتُ mu'tafikat (in verse 9) means 'adjacent to one another'. The towns of Sayyidna Lut Sodom and Gomorrah, are so called because they were adjacent to each other or because when the punishment overtook the disbelievers and criminals overthrowing their towns ], they were all jumbled up.1
(1) Another possible meaning of mu'tafikat is 'overthrown' as mentioned by several exegetes. The translation in the text is based on this meaning. Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences