17:16
وَإِذَآ أَرَدْنَآ أَن نُّهْلِكَ قَرْيَةً أَمَرْنَا مُتْرَفِيهَا فَفَسَقُوا۟ فِيهَا فَحَقَّ عَلَيْهَا ٱلْقَوْلُ فَدَمَّرْنَٰهَا تَدْمِيرًۭا
And when We intend to destroy a city, We command its affluent but they defiantly disobey therein; so the word comes into effect upon it, and We destroy it with [complete] destruction.
Translation · Saheeh International
Tafsir
Ibn Kathīr (abridged)
Meanings of Amarna
The commentators differed over the meaning of this word. It was said that the phrase translated here as "Amarna those who live luxuriously. Then, they transgress therein" means, "We send Our decree upon them" as Allah says elsewhere:
أَتَاهَآ أَمْرُنَا لَيْلاً أَوْ نَهَارًا
(Our decree reaches it by night or by day) For Amarna cannot mean "Our command" because Allah does not command or enjoin immorality. Or, they said it means that Allah subjugated them to commit immoral deeds, so they deserved the punishment. Or it was said that it means: "We commanded them to obey Us, but they committed immoral sins, so they deserved punishment." This was reported from Ibn Jurayj from Ibn `Abbas, and it is also the view of Sa`id bin Jubayr.
أَمَرْنَا مُتْرَفِيهَا فَفَسَقُواْ فِيهَا
(Amarna those who live luxuriously. Then, they transgress therein,) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said: this means "We gave power to the evil people, so they committed sin therein (in the town), and because they did that, Allah destroyed them with the punishment." This is similar to the Ayah: