Tafseer of The Reality · Al-Haaqqa · 69:9
And there came Pharaoh and those before him and the overturned cities with sin.
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.
Explanation of the word of the Exalted: وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ("And Pharaoh came, and those before him, and the overturned cities, with sin") (69:9).
He, exalted is His mention, says: ( وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ ) ("And Pharaoh came"), of Egypt. The reciters differed in the reading of His word ( وَمِنْ قَبْلِهِ ). Most of the reciters of Medina, Kūfa, and Mecca, with the exception of al-Kisāʾī, read it ( وَمِنْ قَبْلِهِ ) ("and those before him"), with fatḥa on the qāf and sukūn on the bāʾ, with the meaning: and before Pharaoh there came, of the communities that denied the signs of Allah, such as the people of Nūḥ, ʿĀd, Thamūd, and the people of Lūṭ, with sin. And most of the reciters of Baṣra and al-Kisāʾī read it ( وَمَنْ قِبَلِهِ ) ("and those who were with him"), with kasra on the qāf and fatḥa on the bāʾ, with the meaning: and there came, with Pharaoh, of the inhabitants of his land Egypt, of the Copts (al-Qibṭ).
And the correct judgment concerning this, in my view, is that they are both well-known readings with a correct meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has hit upon what is correct.
And His word: ( وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ) ("and the overturned cities, with sin"), He says: and the towns that were overturned upon their inhabitants, so that their top became their bottom, ( بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ), that is to say: with sin. And their sin was: their intercourse with the men in their rear.
And similar to what we have said concerning the meaning of His word ( وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ ), the exegetes have stated.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: ( وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ ): the town of Lūṭ. And in some readings it is ( وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ مَعَهُ ) ("and Pharaoh came, and those who were with him").
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: ( وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ), he said: the overturned cities are the people of Lūṭ, their city and their crops. And concerning His word: وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ أَهْوَى ("and the overturned city He cast down") (53:53), he said: He cast it down from the sky — He hurled it down from the sky; Allah revealed to Jibrīl, peace be upon him, and he tore it loose from the earth, its territory and its city, and then ascended with it to the sky; thereafter He overturned them onto the earth, and after that He sent down upon them stones in succession, boulders. And he recited the word of Allah: حِجَارَةً مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ مَنْضُودٍ * مُسَوَّمَةً ("stones of layered baked clay, marked") (11:82-83). He said: al-musawwama (the marked): those prepared for the punishment.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: ( وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ): he means the deniers.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: ( وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ ): they are the people of Lūṭ; their land was overturned upon them.
And as for what we have said concerning His word ( بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ), the exegetes have stated.
* Mention of those who said that:
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: ( بِالْخَاطِئَةِ ), he said: the sins.
