An-Naml (The Ant)

52. “So those are their houses in empty ruins for they were unjust. Verily there is in this a sign for a people who have knowledge.”

53. “And We saved those who believed and used to keep from evil.”

The Arabic word /xawiyah/ means ‘corruption, annihilation, and destruction’, and it is also used in the sense of ‘empty of dwellers’.

Chastisement is not limited to that of Hereafter, sometimes oppressors are punished in this world. This situation is also the same for the effects of faith and piety which is not particular to the Hereafter. The pious people observe the result of their deeds in this world, too.

However, regarding to their annihilation and final fate, the holy Qur’an says:

“So those are their houses in empty ruins for they were unjust…”

Their houses are utterly ruin and there is no people to have activities therein, and there have remained no sign of their glories, bounties and sinful gatherings.

Yes, the fire of cruelty and injustice caused them and all their belongings to be burnt and destroyed. This is a clear sign for the end of the act of those who are unjust.

The verse continues saying:

“…Verily there is in this a sign for a people who have knowledge.”

But in this event those who were not guilty were not burnt in the fire of the guilty ones and were not involved in the evil fate of wrongdoers.

The verse says:

“And We saved those who believed and used to keep from evil.”