قُلْ سِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّشْرِكِينَ 42
Translations
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Travel through the land and observe how was the end of those before. Most of them were associators [of others with Allāh].
Transliteration
Qul sīrū fī al-arḍ fa-nẓurū kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu alladhīna min qablu kāna akthharuhum mushrikīn
Tafsir (Explanation)
Allah commands the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to tell people to travel through the land and observe the ruins and remnants of previous nations who were destroyed due to their disbelief and polytheism. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this ayah serves as a powerful reminder that most of these destroyed peoples were polytheists who rejected Allah's messages, and their ultimate fate was ruin and destruction—a clear warning to those who follow similar paths of disbelief.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within Surah Ar-Rum's Meccan period, where the overarching theme addresses the inevitability of Allah's promised outcomes and the destruction of past civilizations. The context follows verses discussing the corruption that has appeared on land and sea as a consequence of human deeds, making this command to travel and observe an empirical call to witness historical evidence of divine justice.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'Learn from the people before you from the signs and ruins of their nations' (referenced in various classical compilations). Additionally, Surah Al-Araf 3:137 contains a parallel theme: 'Thus have those before them passed away; they too were mightier in strength and left behind traces.'
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us that observing the historical consequences of disbelief and moral corruption should serve as a sobering reminder to examine our own spiritual condition and remain steadfast in monotheism. The destruction of past civilizations is not merely historical trivia but a divine lesson demonstrating that rejecting Allah's guidance invariably leads to ruin, regardless of worldly power or prosperity.