Surah Ankabut >> Currently viewing Surah Ankabut Ayat 38 (29:38)

Surah Ankabut Ayat 38 in Arabic Text

وَعَادٗا وَثَمُودَاْ وَقَد تَّبَيَّنَ لَكُم مِّن مَّسَٰكِنِهِمۡۖ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡ فَصَدَّهُمۡ عَنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَكَانُواْ مُسۡتَبۡصِرِينَ
Wa ‘Aadanw wa Samooda wa qad tabaiyana lakum min masaakinihim wa zaiyana lahumush Shaitaanu a’maalahum fasaddahum ‘anis sabeeli wa kaanoo mustabsireen

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 38

Sahih International
And [We destroyed] ‘Aad and Thamud, and it has become clear to you from their [ruined] dwellings. And Satan had made pleasing to them their deeds and averted them from the path, and they were endowed with perception.

Yusuf Ali
(Remember also) the ‘Ad and the Thamud (people): clearly will appear to you from (the traces) of their buildings (their fate): the Evil One made their deeds alluring to them, and kept them back from the Path, though they were gifted with intelligence and skill.

Abul Ala Maududi
And We destroyed Ad and Thamud, whose dwellings you have observed. Satan had embellished their deeds for them and had turned them away from the Right Path although they were a people of clear perception.

Muhsin Khan
And ‘Ad and Thamud (people)! And indeed (their destruction) is clearly apparent to you from their (ruined) dwellings. Shaitan (Satan) made their deeds fair-seeming to them, and turned them away from the (Right) Path, though they were intelligent.

Pickthall
And (the tribes of) A’ad and Thamud! (Their fate) is manifest unto you from their (ruined and deserted) dwellings. Satan made their deeds seem fair unto them and so debarred them from the Way, though they were keen observers.

Dr. Ghali
And Aad and Thamû‍d-and (their fate) is already evident to you from their dwellings. And AshShaytan (The ever-vicious, i.e., the Devil) adorned for them their deeds, (i.e., made their deeds attractive to them) so he barred them from the way, (though) they used to be keen beholders.

Abdel Haleem
[Remember] the tribes of ‘Ad and Thamud: their history is made clear to you by [what is left of] their dwelling places. Satan made their foul deeds seem alluring to them and barred them from the right way, though they were capable of seeing.

Muhammad Junagarhi
اور ہم نے عادیوں اور ﺛمودیوں کو بھی غارت کیا جن کے بعض مکانات تمہارے سامنے ﻇاہر ہیں اور شیطان نے انہیں ان کی بداعمالیاں آراستہ کر دکھائی تھیں اور انہیں راه سے روک دیا تھا باوجودیکہ یہ آنکھوں والے اور ہوشیار تھے

Quran 29 Verse 38 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Ankabut ayat 38, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(29:38) And We destroyed Ad and Thamud, whose dwellings you have observed.[65] Satan had embellished their deeds for them and had turned them away from the Right Path although they were a people of clear perception.[66]


65. Every Arab was acquainted with the lands where these two nations had lived. The whole of southern Arabia now known as Ahqaf, Yaman and Hadramaut, was the land of Aad in the ancient times, and the Arabs knew it. The whole area in the north of the Hijaz, from Rabigh to Aqabah and from Madinah and Khaiber to Taima and Tabuk. still abounds with Thamudic monuments, which must have been more prominent than they are today in the time when the Quran was being revealed.

66. That is, “They were not ignorant and foolish people, but were the most civilized people of their own times. They performed and carried out their worldly duties and chores very carefully and intelligently. Therefore, it cannot be said that Satan deluded them and pulled them on to his way by artifice and deception. Nay, they adopted the way shown by Satan with open eyes and with full understanding because it promised great pleasures and advantages; and they abandoned the way presented by the prophets because it appeared to be colorless, tasteless and troublesome due to moral restrictions.”

Ibn-Kathir

38. And `Ad and Thamud! And indeed (their destruction) is clearly apparent to you from their (ruined) dwellings. Shaytan made their deeds fair seeming to them, and turned them away from the path, though they were intelligent. 39. And Qarun, Fir`awn, and Haman. And indeed Musa came to them with clear Ayat, but they were arrogant in the land, yet they could not outstrip Us. 40. So, We punished each for his sins, of them were some on whom We sent a Hasib, and of them were some who were overtaken by As-Sayhah, and of them were some whom We caused the earth to swallow, and of them were some whom We drowned. It was not Allah Who wronged them, but they wronged themselves.


The Destruction of Nations Who rejected Their Messengers

Allah tells us about these nations who disbelieved in their Messengers, and how He destroyed them and sent various kinds of punishments and vengeance upon them. `Ad, the people of Hud, peace be upon him, used to live in the Ahqaf (curved sand-hills), near Hadramawt, in the Yemen. Thamud, the people of Salih, lived in Al-Hijr, near Wadi Al-Qura. The Arabs used to know their dwelling place very well, and they often used to pass by it. Qarun was the owner of great wealth and had the keys to immense treasures. Fir`awn, the king of Egypt at the time of Musa, and his minister Haman were two Coptics who disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him.

﴿فَكُلاًّ أَخَذْنَا بِذَنبِهِ﴾

(So, We punished each for his sins,) their punishments fit their crimes.

﴿فَمِنْهُم مَّن أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِ حَاصِباً﴾

(of them were some on whom We sent a Hasib,) This was the case with `Ad, and this happened because they said: “Who is stronger than us” So, there came upon them a violent, intensely cold wind, which was very strong and carried pebbles which it threw upon them. It carried them through the air, lifting a man up to the sky and then hurling him headlong to the ground, so that his head split and he was left as a body without a head, like uprooted stems of date palms.

﴿وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ أَخَذَتْهُ الصَّيْحَةُ﴾

(and of them were some who were overtaken by As-Sayhah,) This is what happened to Thamud, against whom evidence was established because of the she-camel who came forth when the rock was split, exactly as they had asked for. Yet despite that they did not believe, rather they persisted in their evil behavior and disbelief, and threatening to expel Allah’s Prophet Salih and the believers with him, or to stone them. So the Sayhah struck them, taking away their powers of speech and movement.

﴿وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ خَسَفْنَا بِهِ الاٌّرْضَ﴾

(and of them were some whom We caused the earth to swallow,) This refers to Qarun who transgressed, he was evil and arrogant. He disobeyed his Lord, the Most High, and paraded through the land in a boastful manner, filled with self-admiration, thinking that he was better than others. He showed off as he walked, so Allah caused the earth to swallow him and his house, and he will continue sinking into it until the Day of Resurrection.

﴿وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ أَغْرَقْنَا﴾

(and of them were some whom We drowned.) This refers to Fir`awn, his minister Haman and their troops, all of whom were drowned in a single morning, not one of them escaped.

﴿وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ﴾

(It was not Allah Who wronged them,) in what He did to them,

﴿وَلَـكِن كَانُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ﴾

(but they wronged themselves.) that happened to them as a punishment for what they did with their own hands.

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surah ankabut ayat 38
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