Surah Al-Mulk 67:18
سُورَةُ المُلۡكِ · Meccan · Verse 18 of 30
وَلَقَدْ كَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ
Translation
Those who went before them also disbelieved- how terrible was My condemnation!
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Those before them denied too, so how was My rejection of them?' Ibn Ashur notes the shift from speaking to them to speaking about them, a subtle withdrawal that signals displeasure. al-Biqa'i frames the whole passage as long divine forbearance finally answered. History is offered as open evidence: the same denial has been run before, and its results are on record for anyone willing to look. Ask yourself: I treat my situation as if its rules were brand new and its outcome unknowable. But the pattern, comfort, warning, dismissal, consequence, has played out again and again. Am I studying the ruins of those who took this exact road before me, or assuming I'll somehow be the exception?
Grounded in classical tafsir: Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i, Ibn Kathir.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Mulk 67:18 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.