Surah Qaf 50:36
ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ
And how many a generation before them did We destroy who were greater than them in [striking] power and had explored throughout the lands. Is there any place of escape?
Tafsir of Qaf 50:36
Tafsir
Ma'ariful Quran
Verse range: 50:36
Warning the Disbelievers of the imminent Torment
In the concluding sentence of verse [ 36] نَقَّبُوا فِي الْبِلَادِ هَلْ مِن مَّحِيصٍ (and they searched out the cities: Was there any place to escape?), the verb نَقَّبُوا naqqabu is derived from the infinitive tanqib which literally means to make a hole, to perforate or pierce. Idiomatically, it connotes to go or go away through the distant land or country or journey or traverse. (al-Qamus).
The word mahis means asylum or a place of refuge. In this verse Allah poses a rhetorical question to the unbelievers: How many generations We have destroyed before you! They were more numerous and mightier than you, and they traveled throughout the land for trade and business, but they could not find shelter from their destined death. No land could give them shelter.