ٱلْبَقَرَة : ٥٩

  • فَبَدَّلَ But changed
  • ٱلَّذِينَ those who
  • ظَلَمُواْ wronged
  • قَوۡلًا (the) word
  • غَيۡرَ other (than)
  • ٱلَّذِي that which
  • قِيلَ was said
  • لَهُمۡ to them
  • فَأَنزَلۡنَا so We sent down
  • عَلَى upon
  • ٱلَّذِينَ those who
  • ظَلَمُواْ wronged
  • رِجۡزٗا a punishment
  • مِّنَ from
  • ٱلسَّمَآءِ the sky
  • بِمَا because
  • كَانُواْ they were
  • يَفۡسُقُونَ defiantly disobeying
But those who wronged changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them, so We sent down upon those who wronged a punishment [i.e., plague] from the sky because they were defiantly disobeying.
Then the evildoers, among them, substituted a saying other than that which had been said to them, and said instead, 'A grain inside a hair' and entered [the town] dragging themselves on their rears; so We sent down upon the evildoers (the replacement of the second person [of the previous verse] with the overt identification in the third person alladheena zalamoo, 'the evildoers', is intended to emphasise the depravity of their action) wrath, a punishment of plague, from the sky for their wickedness, for deviating from obedience, and within a very short period of time just under seventy thousand of them were dead.