Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:11

(Say: Travel through the earth, then observe how was the end of the deniers.)

This is an address to the Master of those addressed, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and a warning to his people, as well as a reminder to them of the conditions of past nations and what befell them due to their evil deeds. It serves as a caution against them falling into the same state that mimics those deeds. In this, there is also a completion of his consolation, peace be upon him, by virtue of what it contains of a subtle promise that what befell their predecessors shall likewise befall them. The Almighty has indeed fulfilled this, a fulfillment clearer than the sun on the day of Badr.

The intent of "observation" (al-nazar) is contemplation. It has been said that it is observation with the physical eyes. Al-Tabarsi combined both, based on the view that allows for such a combination. "How" (kayfa) is a predicate of kana (was) placed in the foreground, or it is a circumstantial state, and kana is complete (i.e., exists). "The end" (al-‘aqibah) is the ultimate outcome of a thing; it is a verbal noun like al-‘afiyah.

The expression "the deniers" (al-mukaththibin) was used rather than "the mockers" (al-mustahzi’in). It is said this is to indicate that if the outcome of one who merely denies is as such, then how much worse is the state of the one who combined denial with mockery? It has been objected that "the deniers" here refers to a specific group known by that description—those who mocked—meaning they combined both matters, even though mockery of what the messengers brought necessitates denying it. It is not hidden that the speaker’s intent is that even though they combined both matters, the reference to them with this specific title contains a subtle allusion to the hideousness of what befell them. Another view states that the placement of "deniers" in place of "mockers" is to establish that the pivotal cause of what befell them was denial, so that the listeners may be deterred from it, not merely from mockery, while keeping the status of denial intact based on the assumption that it is the pivot of the punishment.

Regarding the conjunction of the command to "observe" to the command to "travel" with thumma (then), it is said this is to signify the disparity between them, even though both are obligatory; for the first merely seeks the second, as in your saying: "Perform ablution, then pray." Others say it is to indicate disparity because the first is for the permissibility of traveling on earth for trade and other benefits, while the second is for the obligation of observing the ruins of the perished. There is no doubt about the distance between the obligatory and the permissible. Al-Shihab objected to this, saying it is rejected by a sound taste, for it involves inserting an extraneous matter—namely, the explanation of the permissibility of travel for trade—between the report about the state of the mockers, what suits it, and what connects to it regarding the command to take heed from their ruins, which noticeably impairs the eloquence of the discourse.

This was countered by the claim that although this may appear so at first glance, it is invalid because that [permissibility] is not extraneous. The intent is to show their abandonment and being left to their own devices, distracted from the Truth by preoccupation with worldly affairs, as in the Almighty’s saying: "And let them enjoy." This is the essence of what is said: the speech is a metaphor for abandonment and leaving them to their own devices, and that this command is one of extreme displeasure. It is like saying to someone determined to do something that leads to great harm, after you have exhausted your advice to him and it did not benefit: "You and your affairs, do as you wish," for you do not truly desire that he does it. How could you, when the one commanding a thing desires it, while you are filled with intense hatred and sorrow? It is as if you said to him: "Since you have refused advice, you are worthy of being told: do as you wish." It is not hidden that deriving this meaning from the verse is extremely far-fetched.

Al-Zamakhshari differentiated between this verse and His saying in Surah al-Naml: "Say: Travel through the earth, then observe," by interpreting the command to travel here as the aforementioned permissibility, and the command to travel there as being for the purpose of observation. That is why the conjunction fa (so) was used in that verse. Some viewed it differently than what we have indicated.

It was mentioned that the verification is that the Almighty said here "then observe" (thumma unzuru), and in other places "so observe" (fanzuru), because the context here requires thumma—which is a lower degree of succession than in those other places—due to the preceding statement of the Almighty: "Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them, whom We established in the earth," along with His saying: "And We brought into being after them other generations." The first indicates that the perished were many groups, and the second indicates that those brought into being after them were also many. Thus, the command for them to travel is a call for them to know this, and the intent is the inspection of lands and the dwellings of the people of corruption in their multitude, so that they may see the signs in land after land. This is something that requires time and a long duration, which prevents the immediate succession required by the fa, unlike in the other places. And this is not free from some agitation. Many have chosen the view that the travel is identical here, but it is a continuous act, and the observation is conjoined to it with fa sometimes, looking at its end, and with thumma other times, looking at its beginning, and such is the nature of every continuous action.