Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:100
That is from the news of the cities, which We relate to you; of them, some are [still] standing and some are [as] a harvest [mowed down].
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the interpretation of His exalted word: "That is from the tidings of the towns which We relate to you; among them are some still standing and some mown down." (100)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says to His prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him: This narrative which We have mentioned to you in this sūra, and the tidings of which We have informed you therein, concerns the reports of the towns whose inhabitants We destroyed because of their disbelief in Allāh and their denial of His messengers — "We relate it to you" — that is, We inform you about it — "among them are some still standing" — he says: among them are some whose buildings are still standing, while their inhabitants have perished and died out; and among them are some whose buildings are still standing and inhabited; and among them are some that are "mown down" with respect to their buildings — demolished, collapsed, whose traces have been effaced and decayed.
This is derived from their expression "a mown crop," when it has been completely cut off at the root. In reality it is "mown" [maḥṣūd], but it has been transformed to the pattern "faʿīl," as we have already explained in the parallel cases.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of those who said that:
18546 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "That is from the tidings of the towns which We relate to you; among them are some still standing and some mown down" — he means by "those standing" towns that are inhabited, and by "mown down" towns that have been extinguished.
18547 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: "those standing and those mown down" — he said: "standing" upon their roof structures, and "mown down" means uprooted root and all.
18548 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda: "among them are some still standing" — whose site can still be observed — "and some mown down" — of which no trace is seen any longer.
18549 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj: "among them are some still standing" — he said: empty upon their roof structures — "and some mown down" — pressed down to the ground.
18550 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, from Sufyān, from al-Aʿmash: "among them are some still standing and some mown down" — he said: their buildings have collapsed.
18551 — Al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from al-Aʿmash: "among them are some still standing and some mown down" — he said: "the mown down" is that whose buildings have collapsed.
18552 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "among them are some still standing and some mown down" — among them are some still standing whose trace is still seen, and mown down is that which has perished so that no trace of it is seen any longer.
