Quran Universe
21:14

قَالُواْ يَٰوَيۡلَنَآ إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَٰلِمِينَ

Qaloo ya waylana inna kunna thalimeena

They said, "O woe to us! Indeed, we were wrongdoers."

Word by word
  1. قَالُواْThey said
  2. يَٰوَيۡلَنَآO woe to us
  3. إِنَّاIndeed,[we]
  4. كُنَّاwe were
  5. ظَٰلِمِينَwrongdoers
Al-Anbya · 21:14Makkah

Woe to us, we were wrong: said when it no longer helped.

A confession that came after the door closed

Their words
woe to us
we were wrongdoerstrue at last
but
too lateno benefit now
When to admit it
when forcedno use then
nowwhile it still counts

Faced with the punishment, they said the truth at last: we were wrongdoers. The tafsir notes they confessed when it would be of no benefit to them. The words were right. The timing was gone.

You know you were wrong in that argument with your sister. You plan to admit it someday. The same words today are repentance and repair. Left too long, they become only regret.

I can admit I was wrong later, when it is easier.

Admitting wrong is a gift while there is time. Later it may help no one.

Try this

Say I was wrong, to Allah in prayer and to one person, about one thing today.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 21:10)

Indeed, We have sent down for you a Book in which there is Dhikrukum. Will you not then understand (10)How many a town given to wrongdoing, have We destroyed, and raised up after them another people (11)Then, when they sensed Our torment, behold, they (tried to) flee from it (12)Flee not, but return to that wherein you lived a luxurious life, and to your homes, in order that you may be questioned (13)They cried: "Woe to us! Certainly we have been wrongdoers. (14)And that cry of theirs ceased not, till We made them as a field that is reaped, extinct (15)

The Virtue of the Qur'an

Here Allah points out the noble status of the Qur'an and urges them to recognize its worth:

لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَابًا فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ

(Indeed, We have sent down for you a Book in which there is Dhikrukum). Ibn 'Abbas said: "Honor for you."

أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

(Will you not then understand?) means, will you not understand this blessing, and accept it? This is like the Ayah:

وَإِنَّهُ لَذِكْرٌ لَّكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ ۖ وَسَوْفَ تُسْأَلُونَ

(And verily, this is indeed a Reminder for you and your people, and you will be questioned.)(43:44)

How the Evildoers were destroyed

وَكَمْ قَصَمْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ كَانَتْ ظَالِمَةً

(How many a town given to wrongdoing, have We destroyed,) meaning, they were very many. This is like the Ayah:

وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مِن بَعْدِ نُوحٍ

(And how many generations have We destroyed after Nuh!)(17:17)

فَكَأَيِّن مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَاهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ فَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا

(And many a township did We destroy while they were given to wrongdoing, so that it lie in ruins)(22:45).

وَأَنشَأْنَا بَعْدَهَا قَوْمًا آخَرِينَ

(and raised up after them another people!) means, another nation which came after them.

فَلَمَّا أَحَسُّوا بَأْسَنَا

(Then, when they sensed Our torment,) when they realized that the torment would undoubtedly come upon them, just as their Prophet had warned them,

إِذَا هُم مِّنْهَا يَرْكُضُونَ

(behold, they (tried to) flee from it.) they tried to run away.

لَا تَرْكُضُوا وَارْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَا أُتْرِفْتُمْ فِيهِ وَمَسَاكِنِكُمْ

(Flee not, but return to that wherein you lived a luxurious life, and to your homes,) This is a way of ridiculing them. It will be said to them by way of ridicule: "Do not run away from the coming torment; go back to the delights and luxuries and fine homes in which you were living." Qatadah said, "Mocking them."

لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْأَلُونَ

(in order that you may be questioned) about whether you gave thanks for what you had.

قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ

(They cried: "Woe to us! Certainly we have been wrongdoers.") They will confess their sins when it will be of no benefit to them.

فَمَا زَالَت تِّلْكَ دَعْوَاهُمْ حَتَّىٰ جَعَلْنَاهُمْ حَصِيدًا خَامِدِينَ

(And that cry of theirs ceased not, till We made them as a field that is reaped, extinct.) meaning, "they will keep on saying that, admitting their wrongdoing, until We harvest them as it were, and their movements and voices come to a stop."