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
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 50:36
Qaf (36): "And how many a generation before them have We destroyed..."
"So they searched (fanaqqabū)" It is also recited with a light qāf (fanaqabū), meaning: they roamed through the lands and traversed them. Al-tanqīb is the act of investigating, searching, and seeking. Al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥilliza said:
They searched through the lands in fear of death, And they roamed the earth in every direction.
The fā’ (in fanaqqabū) is used to indicate causality resulting from His saying: "They were mightier than them in strength." That is, the intensity of their power made them arrogant and enabled them to search, giving them the strength to do so.
It is also possible that it means: The people of Mecca searched during their travels and journeys through the lands of the [destroyed] generations. Did they see any escape for them, such that they might hope for the same for themselves? The evidence for the correctness of this is the reading of those who recited it as an imperative (fanaqqibū), similar to His saying: "So travel throughout the earth" (At-Tawbah: 2).
It is also recited with a kasra on the qāf, lightened from al-naqb, which refers to the wearing down of a camel’s hoof. It is said:
Neither a worn hoof (naqb) nor a sore back touched it.
The meaning here is: the hooves of their camels were worn down, or their own feet became sore and worn, just as the hooves of camels are worn down by their excessive roaming through the lands.
"Is there any escape?" From Allah, or from death.
"Indeed in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present [in mind]."