ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ ﲒ ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ
Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them? They were more numerous than themselves and greater in strength and in impression on the land, but they were not availed by what they used to earn.
Tafsir
Verse range: 40:82
(Have they not traveled)—meaning, have they remained sitting and not traveled, according to one of the two opinions—(in the earth and seen how was the end of those who were before them) from the destroyed nations.
His saying—Exalted is He—(They were more numerous than them and greater in strength and in impact on the earth, etc.) is a resumption similar to what passed in its counterpart at the beginning of the Surah; rather, most of the discourse there is applicable here.
(So what availed them that which they used to earn?)
The first (ma) is negative, or interrogative in the sense of negation, in the accusative position [governed] by aghna (availed). The second is a relative pronoun in the nominative position [as the subject] of it, or it is a particle for the masdar (infinitive), and the masdar resulting from the interpretation is likewise in the nominative position governed by it; meaning: "That which they earned did not avail them," or "What thing did that which they earned avail them?"
