Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:101
And We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves. And they were not availed at all by their gods which they invoked other than Allah when there came the command of your Lord. And they did not increase them in other than ruin.
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 explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَمَا ظَلَمْنَاهُمْ وَلَكِنْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَمَا أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ آلِهَتُهُمُ الَّتِي يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ لَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ وَمَا زَادُوهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ (101) (We did them no wrong, but they wronged themselves. Their gods, whom they called upon besides Allah, availed them nothing when the command of your Lord came, and they brought them nothing but ruin.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted says: We did not punish the inhabitants of those towns, of which We have related to you the report, O Muḥammad, without their having deserved Our punishment, such that We would thereby have placed Our punishment in a place where it does not belong. وَلَكِنْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ — but they wronged themselves — that is: rather, through their disobedience to Allah and their disbelief in Him, they made obligatory upon themselves His punishment and His torment, and thereby brought upon themselves what they ought not to have brought upon themselves, and made obligatory upon themselves what they ought not to have made obligatory upon themselves. فَمَا أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ آلِهَتُهُمُ الَّتِي يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مِنْ شَيْءٍ — Their gods, whom they called upon besides Allah, availed them nothing — that is: their gods, whom they called upon besides Allah and invoked as lords, did not turn away from them the punishment of Allah and His torment — not even the least part of it — when their Lord caused it to descend upon them. لَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُ رَبِّكَ — when the command of your Lord came — O Muḥammad — that is: when the decree of your Lord for their punishment had fallen, His chastisement upon them had been confirmed, and His wrath upon them had descended. وَمَا زَادُوهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ — and they brought them nothing but ruin — that is: their gods, at the coming of the command of your Lord with the punishment of Allah, brought these polytheists (mushrikīn) nothing other than loss, ruin, and destruction.
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It is said in this connection: "tabbabtuh utabbibuhu tatbīban" — I brought him to ruin, I bring him to ruin, as ruining. Hence too the expression that is said of a man: "tabban laka" — "ruin upon you!" Jarīr said:
ʿArādah is a remnant of the people of Lūṭ — yes, ruin upon what they did, a total ruin!
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And in a sense like what we have said about this, the exegetes of the Qurʾān (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
Mention of who said that:
18553 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Salām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Nusayr ibn Dhuʿlūq, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning the words وَمَا زَادُوهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ — he said: nothing other than loss (takhsīr).
18554 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ — he said: loss (takhsīr).
18555 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18556 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ — he says: nothing other than loss (takhsīr).
18557 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ — he said: nothing other than loss (takhsīr).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: This report from Allah the Exalted — even though it is a report about the nations that have passed away before us — is a threat from Allah, glorious be His praise, directed at us, this community (umma): that if we walk the path of the nations before us, by disobeying Him and His Messenger, He will walk with us the path that He walked with them in punishment. And it is an announcement from Him that He wrongs none of His creation, and that the servants are the ones who wrong themselves — as:
18558 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: Our Lord, glorious be His praise, excused Himself — that is: He justified Himself before His creation — and said: وَمَا ظَلَمْنَاهُمْ — for what We have mentioned of the punishment of the nations whom We punished — وَلَكِنْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَمَا أَغْنَتْ عَنْهُمْ آلِهَتُهُمْ — up to: وَمَا زَادُوهُمْ غَيْرَ تَتْبِيبٍ — he said: those whom they worshipped brought them nothing other than ruin (tatbīb).