Gleanings — Paragraph 247

Source (Arabic)

ثمّ اذكر یا عبد ما رأیت في المدینة حین ورودك لیبقی ذكرها في الأرض ویكون ذكری للمؤمنین فلمّا وردنا المدینة وجدنا رؤسائها كالأطفال الّذین یجتمعون علی الطّین لیلعبوا به وما وجدنا منهم من بالغ لنعلّمه ما علّمني الله ونلقي علیه من كلمات حكمة منیع ولذا بكینا علیهم بعیون السّرّ لارتكابهم بما نهوا عنه وإغفالهم عمّا خلقوا له وهذا ما أشهدناه في المدینة وأثبتناه في الكتاب لیكون تذكرة لهم وذكری للآخرین

Translation

Narrate, O Servant, the things Thou didst behold at the time of Thine arrival in the City, that Thy testimony may endure amongst men, and serve as a warning unto them that believe. We found, upon Our arrival in the City, its governors and elders as children gathered about and disporting themselves with clay. We perceived no one sufficiently mature to acquire from Us the truths which God hath taught Us, nor ripe for Our wondrous words of wisdom. Our inner eye wept sore over them, and over their transgressions and their total disregard of the thing for which they were created. This is what We observed in that City, and which We have chosen to note down in Our Book, that it may serve as a warning unto them, and unto the rest of mankind.