Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Fajr Verse 7

Mufti Taqi Usmani

of Iram , the men of tall pillars,

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹the people˺ of Iram—with ˹their˺ great stature,

Ruwwad Translation Center

of Iram, who were people of great stature,

A. J. Arberry

Iram of the pillars,

Abdul Haleem

of Iram, [the city] of lofty pillars,

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

The people of many-columned lram.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Of the (city of) Iram, with lofty pillars,

Abul Ala Maududi

of Iram, known for their lofty columns,

Ahmed Ali

Of Eram with lofty pillars (erected as signposts in the desert),

Ahmed Raza Khan

(And) the tall giants of Iram?

Ali Quli Qarai

[and] Iram, [the city] of the pillars,

Ali Ünal

(The people of) Iram with many-columned (i.e. monumental) buildings,

Amatul Rahman Omar

Of Iram, possessors of tall statures and lofty columns,

English Literal

Iram that of the pillars/posts ?

Faridul Haque

(And) the tall giants of Iram?

Hamid S. Aziz

With the city of Iram of the lofty pillars?

Hilali & Khan

Who were very tall like lofty pillars,

Maulana Mohammad Ali

The like of which were not created in the land;

Mohammad Habib Shakir

(The people of) Aram, possessors of lofty buildings,

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

With many-columned Iram,

Muhammad Sarwar

the people of the huge columned city of Eram

Qaribullah & Darwish

of the columned (city) of Iram,

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Iram of the pillars,

Wahiduddin Khan

the people of Iram, the city of many pillars,

Talal Itani

Erum of the pillars.

Tafsir jalalayn

Iram -- these were the former [people of] `d (Irama is an explicative supplement or a substitution, and it is treated as a diptote because it is a proper noun and feminine) -- of the towering ones, that is to say, the tall ones -- the tallest one among them would reach four hundred cubits --

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Saw you not how your Lord dealt with `Ad Iram of the pillars,

These were the first people of `Ad. They were the descendants of `Ad bin Iram bin `Aws bin Sam bin Nuh. This was said by Ibn Ishaq.

They are those to whom Allah sent His Messenger Hud. However, they rejected and opposed him. Therefore, Allah saved him and those who believed with him from among them, and He destroyed others with a furious, violent wind.

سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَـنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُوماً فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَى كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ

فَهَلْ تَرَى لَهُم مِّن بَاقِيَةٍ

Which Allah imposed on them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so that you could see men lying overthrown, as if they were hollow trunks of date palms!

Do you see any remnants of them? (69;7-8)

Allah mentioned their story in the Qur'an in more than one place, so that the believers may learn a lesson from their demise.

Allah then says,
إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَاد
(Iram of the pillars).

This is an additional explanation that adds clarification who they actually were.

Concerning His saying,
ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ
(of the pillars.)

is because they used to live in trellised houses that were raised with firm pillars. They were the strongest people of their time in their physical stature, and they were the mightiest people in power. Thus, Hud reminded them of this blessing, and he directed them to use this power in the obedience of their Lord Who had created them.

He said,

وَاذكُرُواْ إِذْ جَعَلَكُمْ خُلَفَأءَ مِن بَعْدِ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَزَادَكُمْ فِى الْخَلْقِ بَسْطَةً فَاذْكُرُواْ ءَالاءَ اللَّهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

And remember that He made you successors after the people of Nuh and increased you amply in stature. So remember the graces from Allah so that you may be successful.(7;69)

Allah also said,

فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَاسْتَكْبَرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَقَالُواْ مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْاْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِى خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً

As for 'Ad, they were arrogant in the land without right, and they said;"Who is mightier than us in strength"

See they not that Allah Who created them was mightier in strength than them. (41;15)

And Allah says here,

الَّتِي لَمْ يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَدِ