The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 185
PT. 12 HŪD CH. 11 ذلِكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْقُرَى نَقُصُّهُ عَلَيْكَ مِنْهَا That is of the tidings of. 101 the ruined cities, We relate it to thee. Of them some are standing and some have been mown down like the harvest. 1481 "20:100. life to come. The moral of the verse is that by following in the footsteps of a wicked man, one is disgraced both in this life and the next. The word (lit. gift or support or aid) may also refer to Pharaoh. In this case the verse would mean that Pharaoh whom his people took as their means of support against God proved an evil support for them; for he not only landed them into Hell, but himself went into the Fire with them. 1481. Important Words: (cities) is the plural of a and means, (1) the people of the towns; or (2) the towns themselves (Aqrab). (mown down like the harvest) قَابِهُ وَحَصِيدُ would mean that the progeny of these peoples lived after them and thus, as it were, continued to stand; and in the latter sense it would mean that the remains of some of these towns are still to be found while others have become totally extinct. Similarly, in this sense the word (mown down like the harvest) would mean "a people who have become totally or nearly extinct. " If, however, the word is taken in the sense of "towns," the word would signify, "towns whose traces have become wholly or nearly extinct. " The verse means that the remains of some of the towns mentioned are still extant, while others have become wholly | حصد الزرع is derived from They say i. e. he reaped or cut the harvest with a scythe. means, he mowed down the people with the sword. The proverb means, he who sows evil reaps remorse. means, reaped seed-produce; mown down with the sword like reaped seed-produce; an harvest that is cut or mown down; also the lower part of the harvest which remains after the or nearly obliterated. Consequently, if the ruins of some of the towns mentioned in this Surah cannot be found, the truth of the Quranic narratives cannot be called into question, because the Quran itself uses the word (mown down) with regard to them. If, however, in some future time, archaeologists succeed in discovering the ruins of some towns now extinct, the Quranic account would still be beyond doubt, latter is cut down (Lane & Aqrab). for the word (mown down) is See also 6:142. Commentary: also used with regard to a harvest that has been cut down with a scythe, the lower part of which still remains (standing) | visible. See also 10:25. In the first mentioned sense of the word the word 1393