Tafseer of The Romans · Ar-Room · 30:41
Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness].
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 saying of the Exalted: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee door wat de handen van de mensen verworven hebben, opdat Hij hen een deel laat proeven van wat zij gedaan hebben, opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren (41).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: the acts of disobedience have become visible upon the land of the earth and upon its sea through what the hands of the people have earned of that which Allah has forbidden them.
The exegetes differed concerning the intent of His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee. Some of them said: by "the land" the wildernesses are meant, and by "the sea": the cities and the villages that lie by the waters and the rivers.
* The mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAthhām related to us, saying: al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning En wanneer hij zich afwendt, haast hij zich op de aarde om er verderf te zaaien... the verses; he said: when he attains power, he hastens with transgression and injustice, and then Allah withholds the rain, so that He destroys the crops and the offspring, and Allah loves not corruption. He said: then Mujāhid recited: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee... the verse; he said: thereafter he said: indeed, by Allah, it is not this sea of yours, but every village that lies by flowing water, that is a sea.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of al-Naḍr ibn ʿArabī, on the authority of ʿIkrima: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee, he said: indeed, I do not mean this sea of yours, but every village that lies by flowing water.
He said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Farrūkh, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn al-Zubayr, on the authority of ʿIkrima: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee, he said: the Arabs call the cities "sea."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee door wat de handen van de mensen verworven hebben, he said: this was before Allah sent His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ; it became full of misguidance and injustice, and when Allah sent His Prophet, those of the people who would return turned back.
His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee: as for the land, those are the dwellers of the tents, and as for the sea, those are the dwellers of the villages and the countryside.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee, he said: the sins; and he recited opdat Hij hen een deel laat proeven van wat zij gedaan hebben, opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee door wat de handen van de mensen verworven hebben, he said: Allah brought corruption upon them on account of their sins, in the sea of the earth and its land, through their evil deeds.
And others said: no, by "the land" is meant the surface of the earth, the cities and the rest, and by "the sea": the well-known sea.
* The mention of who said that:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee, he said: upon the land: the son of Adam who killed his brother, and upon the sea: the one who seized every ship by force.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Abū Bishr — that is, Ibn ʿUlayya — said: he said: I heard Ibn Abī Najīḥ saying concerning His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee door wat de handen van de mensen verworven hebben, he said: through the killing by the son of Adam, and the one who seized every ship by force.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land en op de zee, he said: I said: this is the land, but what corruption is there in the sea? He said: then he said: when the rain becomes scarce, the diving [for pearls] becomes scarce.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: Het verderf is zichtbaar geworden op het land, he said: the killing of his brother by the son of Adam; en op de zee, he said: the seizing of the ships by force by the king.
And the most correct of the sayings concerning this is that Allah, the Exalted whose mention is exalted, has made known that corruption has become visible upon the land and upon the sea. Among the Arabs the land is the uninhabited regions, and the sea is of two kinds: a salt sea and a sweet sea, and both of them are "sea" to them. The Exalted, whose praise is mighty, did not restrict the report of its becoming visible to the one sea apart from the other, so it applies to everything to which the name "sea" applies, whether it be sweet or salt. And since that is so, there fall under it also the villages that lie by the rivers and the seas.
The explanation of the words is then, since the matter is as I have described: the acts of disobedience against Allah have become visible in every place, on land and on sea, door wat de handen van de mensen verworven hebben — that is to say: through the sins of the people, and injustice has spread therein.
And His saying: opdat Hij hen een deel laat proeven van wat zij gedaan hebben — the Exalted, whose praise is mighty, says: that He may afflict them with the punishment of a portion of their deeds which they have performed and their disobedience by which they were disobedient. opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren — He says: that they may turn to the truth, and return to repentance, and abandon the acts of disobedience against Allah.
And in the same sense as what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
* The mention of who said that:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren, he said: they show repentance.
He said: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren on the day of Badr, that they may perhaps show repentance.
He said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren, he said: to the truth.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: opdat Hij hen een deel laat proeven van wat zij gedaan hebben, opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren: perhaps one who returns will return, perhaps one who repents will show repentance, perhaps one who seeks [Allah's] good pleasure will seek the good pleasure.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: opdat zij wellicht zullen terugkeren, he said: that whoever comes after them will return.
And the reciters differed in the reading of His saying: opdat Hij hen laat proeven. The majority of the reciters of the cities read it as li-yudhīqahum (that He may let them taste) with the yāʾ, in the meaning: that Allah may let them taste a portion of what they have done. And it has been reported that Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī read it with the nūn, in the form of a report from Allah about Himself concerning that.
