Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:45
And how many a city did We destroy while it was committing wrong - so it is [now] fallen into ruin - and [how many] an abandoned well and [how many] a lofty palace.
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.
Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: How many a settlement is there, O Muḥammad, whose inhabitants We destroyed while they were wrongdoers — that is to say: while they worshipped other than Him who alone deserves to be worshipped, and disobeyed Him whom they were not permitted to disobey.
His word: فَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا — that is to say: its inhabitants have perished and have departed; the settlement has become empty of its dwellers, fallen into ruin and collapsed, and [the walls] have come down upon its roofs and ceilings — by "ʿurūsh" he means its buildings and vaulted structures.
As Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, he said: Abū Khālid related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: فَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا — he said: its "emptiness" (khawāʾ) is its ruin, and its "ʿurūsh" are its roofs.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (khāwiyatun) — he said: deserted, with no one in it.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — the like of the foregoing.
His word: وَبِئْرٍ مُعَطَّلَةٍ — Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: How many a settlement is there which We destroyed, and how many a well which We left abandoned through the destruction of their inhabitants and the death of those who used to drink from them — so that they have become silted up and forsaken, with no one descending to them or drinking from them — and وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ (a lofty, towering palace): built high with stones and gypsum, now emptied of its dwellers, because We caused its people to taste Our punishment on account of their evil deeds — they perished, and their palaces stand deserted after them. "Al-biʾr" (the well) and "al-qaṣr" (the palace) stand in the genitive owing to their conjunction with "al-qaryah" (the settlement). Some of the Kufan grammarians said: they are in the genitive because they are conjoined to "al-ʿurūsh" — even though that does not suit both, since the "ʿurūsh" are the upper parts of houses, whereas the well is in the ground and the palace likewise — but he conjoined them just as it is said: وَحُورٌ عِينٌ * كَأَمْثَالِ اللُّؤْلُؤِ. The purport of the phrase is therefore, as this [Kufan] said: how many a settlement is there which We destroyed while they were wrongdoers — and they collapsed upon their roofs, and belonging to them is an abandoned well and a lofty, towering palace. But because there was no nominative-governing element present alongside the well, it was set in the case-ending conjoined to the "ʿurūsh," while the meaning is what I have described.
In accordance with what we have said concerning the meaning of His word وَبِئْرٍ مُعَطَّلَةٍ, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of those who said this: Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَبِئْرٍ مُعَطَّلَةٍ — he said: [a well] that has been left behind. Another said: without inhabitants.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَبِئْرٍ مُعَطَّلَةٍ — he said: its inhabitants have left it behind, they have departed from it.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — the like of the foregoing.
It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning the word: وَبِئْرٍ مُعَطَّلَةٍ — he said: without inhabitants.
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His word: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ. Some of them said: the meaning is a palace finished with gypsum.
Mention of those who said this: Muṭar ibn Muḥammad al-Ḍabbī related to me, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Khabbāb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the word: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: plastered with gypsum.
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Khabbāb, on the authority of ʿIkrima — the like of the foregoing.
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to me, he said: Ghālib ibn Fāʾid related to me, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Khabbāb, on the authority of ʿIkrima — the like of the foregoing.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the word: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: plastered with gypsum.
Muṭar ibn Muḥammad related to me, he said: Kathīr ibn Hishām related to us. He said: Jaʿfar ibn Burqān related to us — he said: I was walking with ʿIkrima, and he saw a wall of fired brick, plastered, and he laid his hand upon it and said: "This is the lofty palace (mashīd) of which Allah has spoken."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to us, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Khabbāb, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: the [palace] plastered with gypsum. ʿIkrima said: "Gypsum is called al-shayd in Medina."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both together, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: with gypsum or silver.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: with al-qaṣṣa, that is to say gypsum.
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the like of the foregoing.
Al-Ḥasan related to us — ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Ibn Jurayj informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning the word: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: plastered with gypsum.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of al-Thawrī, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Khabbāb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning the word: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: plastered with gypsum — thus it stands in my book on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr.
Others said: No, the meaning is a tall, lofty palace.
Mention of those who said this: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: its inhabitants had built it high and fortified it — then they perished and abandoned it.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — the like of the foregoing.
It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning the word: وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ — he said: lofty.
The more correct of the two positions on this is the position of him who said: by "al-mashīd" is meant: plastered with gypsum. And that is so because "al-shayd" in Arabic is nothing other than gypsum itself. Of this is the verse of the poet: "Like a drop of water between the masonry and the gypsum (al-shayd)." The participle "mufaʿʿal" is thus derived from "al-shayd." Of this also is the verse of Imruʾ al-Qays: "And he spared not Taymāʾ, neither a palm-trunk within it, nor a fortress, save that which is raised high with great stones" — that is to say: save the structure that is built up with gypsum and great stones. It is also possible that by "al-mashīd" is meant: raised up high with gypsum — so that those who said "what is meant is: lofty" intended thereby this very interpretation. Of this also is the verse of ʿAdī ibn Zayd: "He built it up of marble and plastered it with lime (al-kils), so that the birds made their nests in its summits." Some of the philologists have also interpreted it as: adorned with gypsum (from "ashādahu": he adorned it therewith) — and that is equivalent in meaning to him who said: plastered with gypsum.
