In their overstepping, wandering in confusion
فِى طُغْيَٰنِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
fī ṭugyānihim yaʿmahūn — in their overstepping, wandering in confusion
The identical clause fī ṭugyānihim yaʿmahūn appears in all five verses, pairing a state of overstepping with an active verb of confused wandering, and the occurrences frame it with varying verbs — though 6:110 and 10:11 share نذر — with God as the agent in four verses and the people themselves in 23:75, so that the clause reads as a fixed outcome that various groups are placed into.
All five verses contain the exact Arabic clause فِى طُغْيَٰنِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ: the preposition فِى governing the verbal noun ṭugyān ("overstepping") in the genitive with a third-masculine-plural pronoun, followed by the imperfect verb yaʿmahūn (third masculine plural). Read together, the occurrences show the clause functioning as a fixed descriptive unit: a group is located "in their overstepping" and simultaneously described as wandering or groping in confusion. What changes is who places them there and how. In (2:15) the subject is Allah, who "extends them" (yamudduhum) into it; in (6:110) "We let them be" (nadharuhum) in it after turning their hearts and sights; in (7:186) "He leaves them" (yadharuhum) in it after stating there is no guide; in (10:11) "We leave" (nadharu) those who do not anticipate meeting Us in it; and in (23:75) the group itself would "persist" (lajjū) in it if harm were removed from them. The clause thus appears with both a divine agent leaving or extending people into the state (2:15, 6:110, 7:186, 10:11) and, in (23:75), with the people as its own subject persisting in it. In every occurrence the two content words stay together in the same grammatical shape, and the surrounding context supplies a different route into the same paired condition of overstepping and confused wandering.
Where it occurs
- 2:15 Allah extends the mockees into the state: "He extends them in their overstepping so that they wander in confusion."
- 6:110 After turning their hearts and sights, "We let them be, in their overstepping, wandering in confusion."
- 7:186 Whoever has no guide is left there: "He leaves them in their overstepping, groping in confusion."
- 10:11 Those who do not anticipate meeting Us are left there: "We leave those... in their overstepping, wandering blindly."
- 23:75 The group itself would persist there: "they would surely persist in their overstepping, wandering blindly."
All Qur'anic expressions