Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:95
As if they had never prospered therein. Then, away with Madyan as Thamud was taken away.
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 discourse on the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: كَأَنْ لَمْ يَغْنَوْا فِيهَا أَلا بُعْدًا لِمَدْيَنَ كَمَا بَعِدَتْ ثَمُودُ (As if they had never dwelt there. Surely, away with Madyan, just as Thamūd was done away with.) — (11:95)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, whose remembrance be glorified, says: As if the people of Shuʿayb, whom Allah destroyed by His punishment, had never lived in their dwelling places before they lay crouched down in the morning. And لَمْ يَغْنَوْا — they had not dwelt there.
This is derived from the saying: "ghaniytu bi-makān kadhā" — when one has dwelt somewhere and resided there. Of this also is the verse of al-Nābigha:
"I dwelt there when they were my neighbors, with kindly tidings and affection."
And likewise the narrations:
18528 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words كَأَنْ لَمْ يَغْنَوْا فِيهَا — he said: that is to say: as if they had never lived there.
18529 — 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, similarly.
18530 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, similarly.
And His words أَلا بُعْدًا لِمَدْيَنَ كَمَا بَعِدَتْ ثَمُودُ — Allah, the Exalted, whose remembrance be glorified, says: Indeed, may Allah set Madyan far from His mercy, by bringing His retribution upon them, كَمَا بَعِدَتْ ثَمُودُ — just as Thamūd before them was set far from His mercy, by sending down His wrath upon them.
