سورة ص، الآية ٣
كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ فَنَادَوا۟ وَّلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ ٣
kam ahlaknā min qablihim min qarnin fanādaw walāta ḥīna manāṣin
How many a generation have We destroyed before them, and they [then] called out; but it was not a time for escape.
Verse 3 of Surah Sad (38:3), a Meccan surah, is in juz 23, on page 453 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 73 reciters.
79 recitations by 73 reciters: pick one and it plays in the player.
How many generations who denied their messengers before them have I destroyed, they called out seeking help when the punishment fell upon them. But the time was not the time to be saved from the punishment where seeking help from Him would benefit them.
How many generations have We destroyed before them, and they cried out when it was too late for deliverance.
How many a generation have We destroyed before them! And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.
How many a generation We destroyed before them, and they cried out when it was no longer the time for escape!
How many generations before them did We destroy? In the end they cried (for mercy)- when there was no longer time for being saved!
How many did We destroy before them of the generations, then they cried while the time of escaping had passed away.
How many a generation We caused to perish even before them, yet they called out, while time had lapsed for shirking (their doom).
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ مَّكَّنَّٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَا لَمْ نُمَكِّن لَّكُمْ وَأَرْسَلْنَا ٱلسَّمَآءَ عَلَيْهِم مِّدْرَارًا وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرَ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهِمْ فَأَهْلَكْنَٰهُم بِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَأَنشَأْنَا مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ قَرْنًا ءَاخَرِينَ
Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others.
أَوَلَمْ يَهْدِ لَهُمْ كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّنَ ٱلْقُرُونِ يَمْشُونَ فِى مَسَٰكِنِهِمْ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَـَٔايَٰتٍ أَفَلَا يَسْمَعُونَ
Has it not become clear to them how many generations We destroyed before them, [as] they walk among their dwellings? Indeed in that are signs; then do they not hear?
