Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:46
And [We destroyed] the people of Noah before; indeed, they were a people defiantly disobedient.
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.
And His words وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ (And [likewise] the people of Nūḥ before; truly, they were a corrupt people). The reciters differed over the reading of His words وَقَوْمَ نُوحٍ with the accusative (naṣb). For its accusative there are several explanations. The first: that "al-qawm" (the people) is connected to the pronoun "hum" (them) in His words فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّاعِقَةُ (then the thunderbolt seized them), since the Arabs call every destroying punishment a "ṣāʿiqa" (thunderbolt); the meaning of the statement is then: then the thunderbolt seized them and seized the people of Nūḥ before. The second: that it is in the accusative by virtue of the [implicit] meaning of the statement, since in what preceded of the reports about the [former] peoples there lies an indication of what is intended, namely that the meaning is: We destroyed these peoples, and We destroyed the people of Nūḥ before. The third: that a verb governing the accusative is presupposed for it, so that the meaning of the statement is: and remember for them the people of Nūḥ, as He said وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ (and [remember] Ibrāhīm, when he said to his people) and the like, with the meaning: inform them and remember for them. Most of the reciters of Kūfa and Basra read that as وَقَوْمِ نُوحٍ with the genitive (khafḍ) for "al-qawm," with the meaning: and in the people of Nūḥ, whereby "al-qawm" is connected to "Mūsā" in His words وَفِي مُوسَى إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ (and in Mūsā, when We sent him to Firʿawn).
The correct judgment concerning this is that they are two well-known readings in the recitations of the [various] regions, so that with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he acts correctly. Its explanation according to the reading of the one who reads it with the genitive is: and in the people of Nūḥ there likewise lies a lesson for them, since We destroyed them before Thamūd when they denied Our messenger Nūḥ. إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ (truly, they were a corrupt people) — He says: truly, they were a people who opposed the command of Allah and departed from His obedience.
