Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nahl Verse 26

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Those (too) who were before them made plots. Then (the command of) Allah came upon their buildings (uprooting them) from the foundations. So roofs fell down upon them from above, and the chastisement came to them from where they could not even imagine.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Indeed, those before them had plotted, but Allah struck at the ˹very˺ foundation of their structure, so the roof collapsed on top of them, and the torment came upon them from where they did not expect.[[ This verse refers to a tyrant king who ordered the building of a tower so he can reach the heavens and fight Allah and the angels. Eventually the tower collapsed, leaving the tyrant crushed. ]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

Those who came before them plotted, so Allah uprooted their buildings from their foundations and the roof fell down on top of them, and the punishment came on them from where they could not imagine.

A. J. Arberry

Those that were before them contrived; then God came upon their building from the foundations, and the roof fell down on them from over them, and the chastisement came upon them from whence they were not aware.

Abdul Haleem

Those who went before them also schemed, but God attacked the very foundations of what they built. The roof fell down on them: punishment came on them from unimagined directions.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Surely there plotted those before them, but Allah came upon their structures from the foundations, so the roof fell down upon them from above them and the torment came upon them whence they perceived not.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Those before them did also plot (against Allah's Way); but Allah took their structures from their foundations, and the roof fell down on them from above; and the Wrath seized them from directions they did not perceive.

Abul Ala Maududi

Surely many people before them had plotted in a similar manner to (vanquish the Truth), but Allah uprooted the whole structure of their plot from its foundations so that the roof fell in upon them, and the chastisement (of Allah) visited them from unknown directions.

Ahmed Ali

Those who have gone before them had also conspired; then God uprooted their structure from its foundation; the roof fell over them from above, and punishment came upon them from somewhere they did not suspect.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Indeed those before them had plotted, so Allah seized the foundations of their building, therefore the roof fell down upon them from a height, and the punishment came upon them from a place they did not know.

Ali Quli Qarai

Those who were before them [had also] schemed. Then Allah came at their edifice from the foundations and the roof fell down upon them from above and the punishment overtook them whence they were not aware.

Ali Ünal

Those before them (like them, persistent in unbelief, wrongdoing and evil) schemed (against the Messengers and the Divine Message they brought), so God struck what they built at its foundations, and the roof fell in upon them from above, and the doom came upon them without their perceiving whence it came.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Their predecessors did (also) hatch schemes (against the Prophets), Allâh struck at the very root of their foundations, so that the roof fell down from above them and the punishment came upon them from quarters they did not perceive.

English Literal

Those from before them had cheated/deceived/schemed, so God came (and) destroyed their buildings/structures from the foundations/bases, so the roof/ceiling fell down on them from above them, and the torture came to them from where/when they do not feel/know/sense.

Faridul Haque

Indeed those before them had plotted, so Allah seized the foundations of their building, therefore the roof fell down upon them from a height, and the punishment came upon them from a place they did not know.

Hamid S. Aziz

Those who were before them plotted, but Allah struck at the foundations of their building, and the roof fell on them from above, and the torment came to them, from whence they could not perceive.

Hilali & Khan

Those before them indeed plotted, but Allah struck at the foundation of their building, and then the roof fell down upon them, from above them, and the torment overtook them from directions they did not perceive.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

That they may bear their burdens in full on the day of Resurrection, and also of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without knowledge. Ah! evil is what they bear.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Those before them did indeed devise plans, but Allah demolished their building from the foundations, so the roof fell down on them from above them, and the punishment came to them from whence they did not perceive.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Those before them plotted, so Allah struck at the foundations of their building, and then the roof fell down upon them from above them, and the doom came on them whence they knew not;

Muhammad Sarwar

Those who went before them had also devised evil plans. God demolished their houses, destroying their very foundations. Their ceilings toppled on their heads and torment struck them from a direction which they had never expected.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Those who have gone before them also plotted. Then, Allah came upon their building from the foundations, and the roof fell down on them from above them. And the punishment overtook them from where they did not know.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Those before them indeed plotted, but Allah struck at the foundation of their building, the roof fell down upon them from above them, and the torment overtook them from directions they did not perceive.

Wahiduddin Khan

Those who went before them also plotted. But God struck at the foundations of their building, and the roof fell down upon them from above. The punishment came upon them from where they did not expect.

Talal Itani

Those before them also schemed, but God took their structures from the foundations, and the roof caved in on them. The punishment came at them from where they did not perceive.

Tafsir jalalayn

Those before them had indeed plotted, [those] such as Nimrod -- he built a lofty tower that he might ascend through it to the heavens and wage war against its inhabitants; then God came at, He aimed at, their edifice from the foundations, from the base, unleashing against it winds and earthquake, which demolished it; and so the roof collapsed upon them from above them, that is, while they were beneath it, and the chastisement came upon them whence they were not aware, from a direction which would not have occurred to them; [alternatively] it is said that this [description] is a simile for [demonstrating] the thwarting of that which they had settled on in the way of plots against [God's] messengers.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Discussion about what the previous Peoples did, and what was done to Them

Allah says,

قَدْ مَكَرَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ

Those before them indeed plotted,

Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas said;

"This refers to Namrud (Nimrod), who built the tower."

Others said that it refers to Bukhtanassar (Nebuchadnezzar).

The correct view is that this is said by way of example, to refute what was done by those who disbelieved in Allah and associated others in worship with Him.

As Nuh said,

وَمَكَرُواْ مَكْراً كُبَّاراً

"And they have hatched a mighty scheme." (71;22)

meaning, they used all sorts of ploys to misguide their people, and tempted them to join them in their Shirk via all possible means.

On the Day of Resurrection their followers will say to them;

بَلْ مَكْرُ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ إِذْ تَأْمُرُونَنَأ أَن نَّكْفُرَ بِاللَّهِ وَنَجْعَلَ لَهُ أَندَاداً

"Nay, but it was your plotting by night and day, when you ordered us to disbelieve in Allah and set up rivals to Him!" (34;33)

فَأَتَى اللّهُ بُنْيَانَهُم مِّنَ الْقَوَاعِدِ

but Allah struck at the foundation of their building.

meaning, He uprooted it and brought their efforts to naught.

This is like the Ayah;

كُلَّمَأ أَوْقَدُواْ نَاراً لِّلْحَرْبِ أَطْفَأَهَا اللَّهُ

Every time they kindled the fire of war, Allah extinguished it. (5;64)

and,

فَأَتَـهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَمْ يَحْتَسِبُواْ وَقَذَفَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ الرُّعْبَ يُخْرِبُونَ بُيُوتَهُمْ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ وَأَيْدِى الْمُوْمِنِينَ فَاعْتَبِرُواْ يأُوْلِى الاٌّبْصَـرِ

But Allah's (torment) reached them from a place where they were not expecting it, and He cast terror into their hearts so that they destroyed their own dwellings with their own hands and the hands of the believers. So then take admonition, O you with eyes (to see). (59;2)

Allah says here;

فَأَتَى اللّهُ بُنْيَانَهُم مِّنَ الْقَوَاعِدِ

فَخَرَّ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّقْفُ مِن فَوْقِهِمْ وَأَتَاهُمُ الْعَذَابُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ