Tafseer of The Prophets · Al-Anbiyaa · 21:15
And that declaration of theirs did not cease until We made them [as] a harvest [mowed down], extinguished [like a fire].
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.
As for His word فَمَا زَالَتْ تِلْكَ دَعْوَاهُمْ (and that remained their cry)... to the end of the verse: when they saw the punishment and beheld it, they had no other habit (hijjīrā) than to say: يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ (Woe to us, we were wrongdoers) — until Allah destroyed them and annihilated them.
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, concerning قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ * فَمَا زَالَتْ تِلْكَ دَعْوَاهُمْ حَتَّى جَعَلْنَاهُمْ حَصِيدًا خَامِدِينَ (They said: Woe to us, we were wrongdoers * and that remained their cry until We made them like something reaped, extinguished): he said: until they had perished.
As al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning حَصِيدًا (reaped): the reaping; خَامِدِينَ (extinguished): the extinguishing of the fire when it is put out.
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — he said: they were people of fortresses, and Allah sent Nebuchadnezzar against them, who dispatched an army to them that killed them with the sword; they had killed a prophet of theirs, so that they were reaped with the sword. And that is His word فَمَا زَالَتْ تِلْكَ دَعْوَاهُمْ حَتَّى جَعَلْنَاهُمْ حَصِيدًا خَامِدِينَ (and that remained their cry until We made them like something reaped, extinguished) — with the sword.
