Surah Saba: Verse 45 - وكذب الذين من قبلهم وما... - English
Tafsir of Verse 45, Surah Saba
English Translation
And those before them denied, and the people of Makkah have not attained a tenth of what We had given them. But the former peoples denied My messengers, so how [terrible] was My reproach.English Transliteration
Wakaththaba allatheena min qablihim wama balaghoo miAAshara ma ataynahum fakaththaboo rusulee fakayfa kana nakeeriTafsir of Verse 45
Commentary
The word: مِعْشَارَ (mi'shar) in verse 45: وَمَا بَلَغُوا مِعْشَارَ مَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ (while these (infidels of Makkah) have not reached even one tenth of what We gave to those (before them) has been taken to mean: عُشُر ('ushr: a tenth) by some early commentators. Some scholars have interpreted it as: عُشرُ العُشر (ushr-ul-` ushr: a hundredth) while others call it: عُشرُ العَشِیر (` ushr-ul ` ashir: a thousandth). Obviously, the later has a higher degree of exaggeration as compared to 'ushr or ten. The sense of the verse is that not even a tenth, rather a thousandth, of the worldly wealth, power, blessings of age and health given to earlier communities was received by the people of Makkah. Therefore, they should take lesson from what happened to past communities and the evil end they faced. These were people who invited upon themselves the wrath of Allah when they rejected prophets and messengers and, consequently, when came the actual punishment, their power, bravery, wealth and fortified fortresses could do nothing for them.
