38.3. Kam ahlakna min qablihim min qarninfanadaw walata hiina manasin
38.3. How many a generation We destroyed before them, and they cried out when it was no longer the time for escape! (Pickthall)
38.3. Wie manche Generation haben Wir vor ihnen vernichtet, und sie riefen, und es war keine Zeit zum Entrinnen, (Ahmad v. Denffer)
38.3. Wie viele Geschlechter haben Wir vor ihnen vernichtet! Sie riefen, doch da war keine Zeit mehr zum Entrinnen. (Bubenheim)
38.3. Wieviele Generationen haben Wir vor ihnen vernichtend bestraft! Sie flehten Uns dann um Hilfe an, als es zu spät war. (Azhar)
38.3. Wie manche Generation haben WIR vor ihnen zugrunde gerichtet, dann riefen sie (um Hilfe). Doch gäbe es zu der Zeit noch Errettung! (Zaidan)
38.3. Wieviele Generationen haben wir vor ihnen zugrunde gehen lassen! Sie riefen (jedesmal, man möge sie verschonen), wo doch keine Zeit (mehr) war, sich zu retten. (Paret)
38.3. Wie oft ließen Wir manches Geschlecht schon vor ihnen zugrunde gehen! Sie schrien, als keine Zeit mehr zum Entrinnen war. (Rasul)
38.3. Wie viele Generationen Wir vor ihnen vernichtet haben. (Als die Strafe eintraf), riefen sie (um Hilfe), doch da war keine Zeit mehr zum Entrinnen. (Périsset)
Tafsir von Maududi für die Ayaat 1 bis 3
Suad. ( 1 ) By the Qur'an which is full of admonition: ( 2 ) but the people who have disbelieved, are hemselves involved in sheer arrogance and stubbornness. ( 3 ) How many a nation have we destroyed before them! (And when their doom approached) they cried out, but that was not the time of being saved.
Desc No: 1 Although like all other enigmatic letters (mugatta'at) it is difficult to determine the meaning of the letter Suad also, yet the interpretation of it given by Ibn 'Abbas and Dahhak is quite plausible. According to them, it implies: Sadiq-un fi' qauli-hi, or Sadaqa Muhammad-un: Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) is Truthful: whatever he says is the very Truth.
Desc No: 2 The words dhi-dh-dhikr of the Text can have two meanings: (1) Dhi sharaf: the noble Qur'an; and (2) Dhi at-tadhkir: the Qur'an which is full of admonition, or the Qur'an which serves as a reminder, or arouses a heedless person.
Desc No: 3 If the interpretation given of suad by Ibn 'Abbas and Dahhak is accepted, the sentence would mean this: "By this noble Qur'an, or by this Qur'an which is full of admonition, Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) is presenting the Truth, but the people who persist in their denial, are in fact, involved in arrogance and stubbornness." And if suad is taken as one of those enigmatic letters whose meaning cannot be determined, then the answer to the oath is omitted, which is indicated by "but" and the sentence following it. The meaning then would be: "The reason for the denial of these disbelievers is not that the religion which is being presented before them is unsound, or that Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) has shown some slackness in the matter of presenting the Truth before them, but their own boasting and bragging, their haughtiness and stubbornness, and this is borne out by this Qur'an itself, which is full of admonition. Every unbiased person who studies it will admit that fill justice has been done in it to the task of making the people understand the Truth. "