Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(How many a generation) past generation (We destroyed before them) before the Quraysh, (and they cried out when it was no longer the time for escape!) the angels cried out to them upon their destruction: this is no context for attacking or fleeing; stop! And they stopped until Allah destroyed all of them. This is because before this, upon fighting an enemy, they used to say: attack all together! (Manas! Manas!). Some would therefore survive and others die. But when they were defeated by the enemy they used to cry: flee! Flee! (Manasa! Manasa!), and so they used to flee all together from the battlefield. These were two different signs whenever they engaged in fighting either to attack or to flee from the enemy. When Allah wished to destroy them, the angels cried out to them: this is no context for attacking or fleeing.
Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas, trans. Mokrane Guezzou
© 2021 Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan (http://www.aalalbayt.org) ® All Rights Reserved
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, this work may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Great Tafsirs Project, Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (aalalbayt@aalalbayt.org)