ٱلْحِجْر : ٤

  • وَمَآ And not
  • أَهۡلَكۡنَا We destroyed
  • مِن any
  • قَرۡيَةٍ town
  • إِلَّا but
  • وَلَهَا (there was) for it
  • كِتَابٞ a decree
  • مَّعۡلُومٞ known
And We did not destroy any city but that for it was a known decree.
And We did not destroy any town (min qaryatin: min is extra), meaning, its inhabitants, but that it had a known decree, a [pre-]determined term, after which it would be destroyed.