فَصَبَّ عَلَيْهِمْ رَبُّكَ سَوْطَ عَذَابٍ 13
Translations
So your Lord poured upon them a scourge of punishment.
Transliteration
Fasabba alayihim rabbuka sawta adhab
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes how Allah poured upon the people (referring to the people of Ad) a whip of punishment, signifying a comprehensive and severe chastisement. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari interpret 'sawt al-adhab' (whip of punishment) as the violent windstorm that destroyed the Ad people, emphasizing Allah's justice against those who rejected His signs and persisted in arrogance and disbelief. The metaphor of a whip conveys both the swiftness and the intensely painful nature of divine retribution.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within Surah Al-Fajr's narrative about the destruction of ancient peoples (Ad, Thamud, and Pharaoh) who rejected their prophets. The broader context illustrates the consistent pattern of divine punishment throughout history for those who deny Allah's message, serving as a warning to the Meccan disbelievers of the same potential fate.
Related Hadiths
The concept relates to the hadith in Sahih Muslim where the Prophet ﷺ described the punishment of the Ad people: 'The wind was sent against them for seven nights and eight days consecutively, so you could see the people fallen on their faces as if they were hollow palm trunks.' This directly illustrates the 'whip of punishment' mentioned in the ayah.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that rejecting divine guidance and persisting in arrogance inevitably leads to severe consequences, while serving as a timeless warning that Allah's justice is inescapable. Modern readers should reflect on heeding prophetic warnings and the importance of humility before Allah's signs rather than following the path of those destroyed before us.
Related Ayahs
إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a terrible day."
كَذَّبَتْ عَادٌ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ
ʿAad denied the messengers
قَدْ مَكَرَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَأَتَى ٱللَّهُ بُنْيَـٰنَهُم مِّنَ ٱلْقَوَاعِدِ فَخَرَّ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلسَّقْفُ مِن فَوْقِهِمْ وَأَتَىٰهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ
Those before them had already plotted, but Allāh came at [i.e., uprooted] their building from the foundations, so the roof fell upon them from above them, and the punishment came to them from where they did not perceive.
وَضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا قَرْيَةً كَانَتْ ءَامِنَةً مُّطْمَئِنَّةً يَأْتِيهَا رِزْقُهَا رَغَدًا مِّن كُلِّ مَكَانٍ فَكَفَرَتْ بِأَنْعُمِ ٱللَّهِ فَأَذَٰقَهَا ٱللَّهُ لِبَاسَ ٱلْجُوعِ وَٱلْخَوْفِ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَصْنَعُونَ
And Allāh presents an example: a city [i.e., Makkah] which was safe and secure, its provision coming to it in abundance from every location, but it denied the favors of Allāh. So Allāh made it taste the envelopment of hunger and fear for what they had been doing.