Corruption has appeared on land and sea, because of what people's hands have earned, in order to make them taste some of what they have done, so that they might return.
What does the Qur'an say about corruption appearing 'on land and sea'?
Key findingsEditorial
One finding for each passage this study carries, in the order the study reads them. Each is the reason that passage was signed into the study, in full and unedited - including, where the renderings disagree, the disagreement.
- 01 30:41 Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of what men's hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of what they have done, in order that they may return. In because it is the ONLY verse in the four cleared renderings that puts corruption, land and sea in one statement, and because every clause in it is doing work: the cause is human, the effect is partial, and the purpose is return. ALSO CARRIED by What does the Qur'an say about balance in nature (mizan) - and about disturbing it?, with a different reason there.
In plain wordsEditorial written by the editors, not a translation
One verse. The question quotes a phrase, and the phrase occurs once.
30:41 has four moving parts and a reader should have all of them.
Corruption HAS APPEARED - the verb is in the perfect, a thing that has happened, not a warning about what might.
ON LAND AND SEA - the two domains together, which is why the phrase is memorable and why it is so often quoted in environmental writing.
BY WHAT MEN'S HANDS HAVE DONE - the cause is placed squarely on human action. That is the clause doing the most work, and all four renderings carry it.
That He may make them taste A PART of what they have done - not the whole of it. The consequence is described as partial and as instructive.
In order that they may RETURN. The stated purpose is not punishment terminating in itself.
What the verse does not say is what the corruption is. The translators give it as corruption (Pickthall, Sale, Itani), destruction (Rodwell) and trouble (Palmer), and the verse does not say what it consists of. A reader who takes 30:41 as a statement about pollution is making a choice the verse does not make.
This study reports the verse and names the ambiguity rather than resolving it. Resolving it needs the lexical layer at a depth this platform does not have - roots are recorded for well under half the tokens - and , which has not cleared the rights audit.
Scope of this study
This platform shows the verse, its easy-read line, its translations, a plain-words reading, and each verse among its neighbours. It does not supply occasion of revelation, interpretation (tafsir) or history, and it never invents them.
What this study does not answer, and which source would be needed. It does not say on what occasion any of these verses was given: this study holds no source whose usage rights can be verified. It does not report how any commentator has read them: this study holds no either - the Arabic of , and is public domain by age, but no English edition with verifiable usage rights exists. And it offers no academic-historical reading: this study holds no such scholarship. Each of those is an absence with a named cause, not an omission.
What this rests on
Opens with 30:41.
Easy-read
Easy-read is a simplified pronunciation, not authoritative — a rule-by-rule romanisation, not a reading. Each verse ends in its pause form, as it is said when you stop there. Pauses inside a verse and other tajwid rules are not shown. It is derived from the Tanzil Simple edition, while the Arabic above is the Uthmani edition; both are cleared, but they are not the same edition and their orthography differs.
The versesSource fact 1 passages, each with every cleared translation
1 passages, chosen for this question and signed as part of it. Each carries the reason it is here, and each renders in full: the Arabic, then every cleared translation of that verse under its translator's name.
Each verse opens on the translation that comes first in the site's fixed order, which runs from the newest translation to the oldest. The order is not a preference. Open Compare translations on any verse to read the others.
30:41
Why this passage is in the study finding 01
ظَهَرَ ٱلْفَسَادُ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِى ٱلنَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ ٱلَّذِى عَمِلُوا۟ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)zahara l-fasaadu fee l-barri wal-bahri bimaa kasabat aydee n-naasi liyudheeqahum ba'da lladhee 'amiloo la'allahum yarji'oon
DIN 31635ẓahara l-fasādu fī l-barri wal-baḥri bimā kasabat ʾaydī n-nāsi liyuḏīqahum baʿḍa llaḏī ʿamilū laʿallahum yarǧiʿūna
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Compare translations (4)
Corruption doth appear on land and sea because of (the evil) which men's hands have done, that He may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return
Trouble hath appeared in the land and the sea, for what men's hands have gained! to make them taste a part of that which they have done,- haply they may return
Destruction hath appeared by land and by sea on account of what men's hands have wrought, that it might make them taste somewhat of the fruit of their doings, that haply they might turn to God
Corruption hath appeared by land and by sea, for the crimes which men's hands have committed; that it might make them to taste a part of the fruits of that which they have wrought, that peradventure they might turn from their evil ways
Sources
EditionTanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) ·Uthmani, Version 1.1·Tanzil Project ·Creative Commons Attribution 3.0·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Receipts Tanzil Qur'an text (Uthmani) · Uthmani, Version 1.1
- Edition
- Uthmani, Version 1.1
- Custodian
- Tanzil Project
- Layer
- canonical text
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
- Licence URL
- https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
- Commercial use
- yes
- Modification
- contradictory
- Licence text
- read verbatim
- Review state
- cleared
- Retrieved
- 24 August 2026
- Digest
- 203f0f1bf3158b1e5be4ab9f8f6870e5…
- Located at
- https://tanzil.net/pub/download/index.php?quranType=uthmani&outType=xml
- Convention
- Hafs/Kufan verse numbering, 6236 ayahs. The bismillah is delivered as a separate `bismillah` attribute on ayah 1 and is NOT fused into the ayah text. 112 surahs carry one: every surah except al-Fatiha, where the bismillah is ayah 1:1 itself, and at-Tawba, which has none. Sourced from the XML output; the plain-text output of the same release DOES fuse it, which is defect D1.
CLEARED. Licence read verbatim from the block embedded in this very file. Ingested exactly as shipped: no normalisation, no stripping of marks, no Unicode recomposition.
Other languages (18)
Në tokë e në det është shfaqur e keqja për shkak të asaj që kanë bërë duart e njerëzve, që Allahu t'i bëjë të shijojnë pasojat e disa veprave që kanë bërë, në mënyrë që të kthehen.
মানুষের হাতের উপার্জিত (কর্মের) কারণে স্থল ও সমুদ্রে বিপর্যয় প্রকাশ পেয়েছে, যাতে তিনি তাদেরকে তাদের কৃতকর্মের কিছু অংশের স্বাদ আস্বাদন করান, যেন তারা ফিরে আসে।
Nered se pojavio na kopnu i na moru zbog onog što ljudske ruke urade, da bi im On dao da iskuse kaznu za nešto od onoga što urade, ne bi li se iz grijeha povratili.
Nered se pojavio na kopnu i na moru zbog onog što ljudske ruke urade, da bi im On dao da iskuse kaznu za nešto od onoga što urade, ne bi li se iz grijeha povratili.
Bone on feeñiri ka njoorndi e ka maaje, sabu ko juuɗe yimɓe ɓen faggitii kon; fii yo O meeɗin ɓe yoga e ko ɓe ngolli; mbelajo'o, ɓe nduttoto.
მიწაზე და ზღვაზე გაჩნდა არეულობა [გვალვა, სენები და ავადმყოფობანი] იმის გამო, რაც ადამიანთა ხელებმა მოიმოქმედეს [მათ ცოდვათა გამო]. რათა აგემოვნებინოთ მათ მცირე ნაწილი იმიდან, რასაც თავადვე სჩადიოდნენ, რათა დაუბრუნდნენ ალლაჰის მორჩილებას!
Unheil ist auf dem Festland und im Meer erschienen wegen dessen, was die Hände der Menschen erworben haben, damit Er sie einiges von dem kosten lässt, was sie getan haben, auf dass sie umkehren mögen.
Το κακό (οι κακουχίες, οι ασθένειες, η έλλειψη ευλογίας, και η έλλειψη βροχής και καρπών) εμφανίστηκε στη γη και τη θάλασσα, εξαιτίας όσων διέπρατταν οι άνθρωποι (από κακές πράξεις). (Εμφανίστηκε) για να τους κάνει (ο Αλλάχ) να γευτούν μέρος αυτού που διέπρατταν, ίσως να στραφούν (με μεταμέλεια προς Αυτόν).
जल और थल में लोगों के हाथों की कमाई के कारण बिगाड़ फैल गया[16] है, ताकि वह (अल्लाह) उन्हें उनके कुछ कर्मों का मज़ा चखाए, ताकि वे बाज़ आ जाएँ।
La corruzione si è diffusa in terra e in mare a causa di ciò che hanno fatto le mani della gente, per far loro assaggiare parte delle loro azioni, e forse smetteranno.
41. Blogis (nuodėmės ir nepaklusimas Allahui) pasirodė žemėje ir jūroje dėl to, ką žmonių rankos įgijo (engimu ir blogais darbais), kad Jis (Allahas) galėtų priversti juos paragauti dalį to, ką jie darė, tam, kad jie galėtų sugrįžti (atgailaudami Allahui ir prašydami Jo Atleidimo).
sababa waan harki namaa hojjatteetiin dachiifi bahara keessattis badiin mul’ate, Garii (galata) waan isaan dalaganii akka isaan dhandhamsiisnuuf jecha, Deebi’uun isaaniis ni kajeelama.
Беззаконие проявилось на суше и море по причине того, что приобрели руки людей — чтобы Он дал им вкусить часть того, что они совершили, — быть может, они вернутся [к истине].
Због оног што људи раде, појавио се неред и на копну и на мору, како би им Он дао да искусе казну због оног што раде, не би ли се поправили.
Uharibifu umedhihiri barani na baharini kwa yale iliyoyafanya mikono ya watu, ili Mwenyezi Mungu awaonjeshe baadhi ya yale waliyoyatenda. Huenda wakarejea kwa kutubu.
Förödelse har drabbat land och hav på grund av människors handlingar. Han låter dem erfara något av följderna av de gärningar de själva har begått, så att de kan vända sig åter [till honom i ånger].
İnsanların ellerinin kazandıklarından dolayı karada ve denizde fesat çıktı. Umulur ki dönerler diye, (Allah) yaptıklarının bazılarını böylece onlara tattırmaktadır.
خشکی اور تری میں لوگوں کی بداعمالیوں کے باعﺚ فساد پھیل گیا۔ اس لئے کہ انہیں ان کے بعض کرتوتوں کا پھل اللہ تعالیٰ چکھا دے (بہت) ممکن ہے کہ وه باز آجائیں.[1]
Show context
The verses around this oneSource fact
shown so it's never read alone
وَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُم مِّن رِّبًا لِّيَرْبُوَا۟ فِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِ ٱلنَّاسِ فَلَا يَرْبُوا۟ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُم مِّن زَكَوٰةٍ تُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ ٱللَّهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُضْعِفُونَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)wamaa aataytum min riban liyarbuwa fee amwaali n-naasi falaa yarboo 'inda llaahi wamaa aataytum min zakaatin tureedoona wajha llaahi fa'oolaa'ika humu l-mud'ifoon
DIN 31635wamā ʾātaytum min riban liyarbuwa fī ʾamwāli n-nāsi falā yarbū ʿinda llāhi wamā ʾātaytum min zakātin turīdūna waǧha llāhi faʾūlāʾika humu l-muḍʿifūna
The translators word this verse differently
The usury you practice, seeking thereby to multiply people's wealth, will not multiply with God. But what you give in charity, desiring God's approval-these are the multipliers.
That which ye give in usury in order that it may increase on (other) people's property hath no increase with Allah; but that which ye give in charity, seeking Allah's Countenance, hath increase manifold
And what ye put out to usury that it may increase with the wealth of men, it shall not increase with God; but what ye put out in alms, desiring the face of God - these it is who shall gain double
Whatever ye put out at usury to increase it with the substance of others shall have no increase from God: but whatever ye shall give in alms, as seeking the face of God, shall be doubled to you
Whatever ye shall give in usury, to be an increase of men's substance, shall not be increased by the blessing of God: But whatever ye shall give in alms, for God's sake, they shall receive a twofold reward
ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ رَزَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ هَلْ مِن شُرَكَآئِكُم مَّن يَفْعَلُ مِن ذَٰلِكُم مِّن شَىْءٍ سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)allaahu lladhee khalaqakum thumma razaqakum thumma yumeetukum thumma yuhyeekum hal min shurakaa'ikum man yaf'alu min dhaalikum min shay'in subhaanahu wata'aalaa 'ammaa yushrikoon
DIN 31635allāhu llaḏī ḫalaqakum ṯumma razaqakum ṯumma yumītukum ṯumma yuḥyīkum hal min šurakāʾikum man yafʿalu min ḏālikum min šayʾin subḥānahu wataʿālā ʿammā yušrikūna
God is He who created you, then provides for you, then makes you die, then brings you back to life. Can any of your idols do any of that? Glorified is He, and Exalted above what they associate.
Allah is He Who created you and then sustained you, then causeth you to die, then giveth life to you again. Is there any of your (so-called) partners (of Allah) that doeth aught of that? Praised and Exalted be He above what they associate (with Him)
It is God who created you and then provided for you; and then will make you die, and then will quicken you again; is there any of your partners who can do aught of that? Celebrated be His praises, and exalted be He above what they associate with Him
It is God who created you - then fed you - then will cause you to die - then will make you alive. Is there any of your companion-gods who can do aught of these things? Praise be to Him! and far be He exalted above the gods they join with Him
It is God who hath created you, and hath provided food for you: Hereafter will He cause you to die; and after that will He raise you again to life. Is there any of your false gods, who is able to do the least of these things? Praise be unto Him; and far be He removed from what they associate with Him
30:41 — the verse above
قُلْ سِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلُ كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُم مُّشْرِكِينَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)qul seeroo fee l-'ardi faanzuroo kayfa kaana 'aaqibatu lladheena min qablu kaana aktharuhum mushrikeen
DIN 31635qul sīrū fī l-ʾarḍi fānẓurū kayfa kāna ʿāqibatu llaḏīna min qablu kāna ʾakṯaruhum mušrikīna
Say, "Roam the earth, and observe the fate of those who came before. Most of them were idolaters."
Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): Travel in the land, and see the nature of the consequence for those who were before you! Most of them were idolaters
Say, 'Journey on in the land, and behold what was the end of those before you,- most of them were idolaters
SAY: Journey through the land, and see what hath been the end of those who were before you! The greater part of them joined other gods with God
Say, go through the earth, and see what hath been the end of those who have been before you: The greater part of them were idolaters
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ ٱلْقَيِّمِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ يَوْمٌ لَّا مَرَدَّ لَهُۥ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصَّدَّعُونَ
Easy-read · not authoritative
Easy-read (simplified)fa'aqim wajhaka lilddeeni l-qayyimi min qabli an ya'tiya yawmun laa maradda lahu mina llaahi yawma'idhin yassadda'oon
DIN 31635faʾaqim waǧhaka lilddīni l-qayyimi min qabli ʾan yaʾtiya yawmun lā maradda lahu mina llāhi yawmaʾiḏin yaṣṣaddaʿūna
The translators word this verse differently
So devote yourself to the upright religion, before there comes from God a Day that cannot be averted. On that Day, they will be shocked.
So set thy purpose resolutely for the right religion, before the inevitable day cometh from Allah. On that day mankind will be sundered
Set thy face steadfast to the standard religion, before there come a day from God which there is no averting; on that day shall they be parted into two bands
Set thy face then towards the right faith, ere the day come which none can hinder God from bringing on. On that day shall they be parted in twain
Set thy face therefore towards the right religion, before the day cometh, which none can put back from God. On that day shall they be separated into two companies
What this study rests on, and what it refusessigned with it5 of the 6 paragraphs signed with this study; the paragraph naming what it does not answer is at the top of the page
The selection above and this account of it are part of what was signed. Where the renderings disagree it says so; where the question runs past what has cleared the rights audit it says that too.
Read across the four public-domain translations - Sale 1734, Rodwell 1861, Palmer 1880, Pickthall 1930 - of 30:41, in full, and nothing else. This study consults no , no , no occasion of revelation and no biography, because none is yet available in an edition whose usage rights can be verified. Itani 2012, the fifth translation shown with these verses, was not consulted for this study.
How this set was arrived at. The verses were found by a word search of the four public-domain translations, using terms chosen by the editor and listed here as they were searched - corruption + land + sea; mischief + land + sea; evil + land + sea; disorder + land + sea; land + sea + hands. The search was a way of finding passages, not a judgement about what they mean: that several translators chose the same English word is not evidence about the Arabic. A different choice of terms gives a different set.
Verses carried by more than one study. Some passages here also serve another study. Each carries its own reason in each place, and the reason states where else it appears.
Where the translations part company, named rather than resolved. How differently the translations word each verse is shown on that verse's page, and the study names the differences it turns on rather than choosing between them.
Correction record, 2026-09-17. In the answer, a claim about how the Arabic word is used across the Qur'an was removed, because no source a reader can check is given for it; the translators' words are now given as they appear on the page. The verses shown and their translations are unchanged.
Sources & method
Translations Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
Edward Henry Palmer, English translation of the Qur'an ·1880 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
George Sale, English translation of the Qur'an ·1734 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an·Public domain — copyright term expired
John Medows Rodwell, English translation of the Qur'an ·1861 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran·Public domain — copyright term expired
Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran ·1930 translation, digital edition of unverified printing·None — public domain work ·Public domain — copyright term expired·retrieved 24 Aug 2026
Translations Talal Itani, ClearQuran·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Talal Itani, ClearQuran ·ClearQuran, "God" edition, EPUB·Talal Itani / ClearQuran.com ·Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International·retrieved 7 Sep 2026
Translation by Talal Itani, ClearQuran.com https://clearquran.com
Editorial status
- Editorial status
- Editorially prepared · not independently reviewed — signed by the AALAMIN Editor; no external scholarly review
- Theme
- Review status
- Published
- 5 September 2026
- Updated
- 17 September 2026
A dashed outline marks a tag the editors handle with extra care. It describes how this study is filed and shown, not what the verses say.
AALAMIN Editor
Qur'anic text from the Tanzil Project. Copyright (C) 2007-2026 Tanzil Project License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Source: tanzil.net · Updates: tanzil.net/updates/ https://tanzil.net/updates/