Term and scope
قَرْنٍ
Qarn — a generation
Refers to a Qawm (nation) of people who live during the same time or era; i.e., a generation.
Before them: multiple generations were destroyed.
Qur'an 50:36 — Text and Translation
وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُم مِّن قَرْنٍ هُمْ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُم بَطْشًا فَنَقَّبُوا فِي الْبِلَادِ هَلْ مِن مَّحِيصٍ
“And how many generations have we destroyed before them who were much more intense than them in their power and influence. Was there any place of escape (i.e., for them)”.
Key terms, images, and insights within the ayah
Power and force
بَطْشًا
Batsh — might, violent seizing
Contains the meanings of might and strength. It implies taking and seizing with violence and having power over others; having the power and might to take from people and to enforce themselves over them.
Here it implies that those before had greater power and influence than them (i.e., Quraish). The Quraish may think of themselves as being powerful and influential, but they are nothing compared to the nations that Allah destroyed before them.
Movement and imprint
فَنَقَّبُوا فِي الْبِلَادِ
Naqqaboo fil Bilaad — drilling, imprinting, and reach
From نَقَبَ (to drill or dig a hole). It provides the image of putting their footholes and impressions on the land — like armies pegging their tents into the ground wherever they went, setting up their military bases in lands.
الْبِلَادِ (lands), plural of بَلَد (land), implies their influence and power was spread far. Together it implies an empire spreading globally and marking their territory.
Note: The majority of scholars of Tafsir stated that the meaning of نَقَّبُوا here is to travel in the land or to search in the land for a place of refuge.
The question of escape
هَلْ مِن مَّحِيصٍ
Hal min Mahees — any place to flee?
حَاصَ means to flee and escape, and مَّحِيصٍ is a place to flee and escape to. Were these great and powerful nations that were destroyed able to find a place to escape to?
Flow of meaning within the ayah
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Before them: many generations (قَرْنٍ) were destroyed.
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Those past were more intense in power and influence (بَطْشًا) than them.
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They drilled, imprinted, and traversed the lands (نَقَّبُوا فِي الْبِلَادِ), marking territory and spreading far; the majority said it means they traveled/searching the land for refuge.
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“Was there any place of escape?” (هَلْ مِن مَّحِيصٍ)
Visual representations tied to the wording
“Naqqaboo fil bilaad” — footprints and pegs across lands
Imagery of drilled imprints, tent pegs, and bases spread far across multiple lands.
“Hal min mahees” — any place to flee?
Converging paths end at a barrier, echoing the rhetorical question regarding escape.