11.Surah Hud

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

فَلَوْلاَ كَانَ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ أُوْلُواْ بَقِيَّةٍ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْفَسَادِ فِي الأَرْضِ...   

11: 116. Why were there not, among the generations before you, persons possessed of balanced good sense, prohibiting (men) from mischief in the earth --

C1619. Baqiyat: some virtue or faculty that stands assault and is lasting;

balanced good sense that stands firm to virtue and is not dazzled by the lusts and pleasures of this world, and is not deterred by fear from boldly condemning wrong if it was fashionable or customary.

It is leaders possessed of such character that can save a nation from disaster or perdition. The scarcity of such leaders-and the rejection of the few who stood out- brought ruin among the nations whose example has already been set out to us as a warning.

In 11:86 the word has a more literal meaning.

...إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّمَّنْ أَنجَيْنَا مِنْهُمْ...

except a few among them whom We saved (from harm)?

C1620. The exceptional men of firm virtue would have been destroyed by the wicked to whom they were an offence, had they not been saved by the grace and mercy of Allah.

Or perhaps, but for such grace, they might themselves have succumbed to the evil around them, or been overwhelmed in the general calamity.

...وَاتَّبَعَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ مَا أُتْرِفُواْ فِيهِ وَكَانُواْ مُجْرِمِينَ ﴿١١٦﴾

But the wrongdoers pursued the enjoyment of the good things of life which were given them, and persisted in sin.

وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ لِيُهْلِكَ الْقُرَى بِظُلْمٍ وَأَهْلُهَا مُصْلِحُونَ ﴿١١٧﴾   

11: 117. Nor would thy Lord be the One to destroy communities for a single wrongdoing if its members were likely to mend.

C1621. There are different shades of interpretation for this verse.

I follow Baydawi in construing zulmin here as "a single wrong".

He thinks that the wrong referred to is shirk, or polytheism; Allah will not destroy mere wrong belief if the conduct is right.

I am inclined to interpret it in more general terms.

Allah is Loving-Suffering and Oft-Forgiving: He is too Merciful to destroy for a single wrong, if there is any hope of reclaiming the wrongdoers to repentance and amendment or right life.

An alternative interpretation is: "to destroy communities unjustly."

Other versions:

11: 116

Yusuf Ali Why were there not among the generations before you persons possessed of balanced good sense prohibiting (men) from mischief in the earth except a few among them whom We saved (from harm)? But the wrongdoers pursued the enjoyment of the good things of life which were given them and persisted in sin.

Pickthall If only there had been among the generations before you men possessing a remnant (of good sense ) to warn (their people) from corruption in the earth, as did a few of those whom We saved from them! The wrong-doers followed that by which they were made sapless, and were guilty.

Transliteration Fa lau la_ ka_na minal quru_ni min qablikum ulu_ baqiyyatiy yanhauna 'anil fasa_di fil ardi illa_ qalilam mimman anjaina_ minhum, wa-ttaba'al lazina zalamu_ ma_ utrifu_ fihi wa ka_nu_ mujrimin(a).

11: 117

Yusuf Ali Nor would thy Lord be the One to destroy communities for a single wrongdoing if its members were likely to mend.

Pickthall In truth thy Lord destroyed not the townships tyrannously while their folk were doing right.

Transliteration W a ma_ ka_na rabbuka liyuhlikal qura_ bi zulmiw wa ahluha_ muslihu_n(a).