Causing corruption in the land
تُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ
tufsidū fī l-arḍ — cause ruin in the land
Across nine verses, the verb phrase 'cause corruption/ruin in the land' (form IV of ف-س-د followed by فِي ٱلْأَرْضِ) is applied to a wide range of actors — named groups, unnamed speakers, an addressee, and even the speakers themselves in denial — while its grammatical form shifts between jussive prohibition, subjunctive (of purpose or in hypothesis), and indicative assertion. The fixed frame lets the verses present very different agents as instances of one and the same activity.
The frame consists of a form IV verb from the root ف س د governing the prepositional phrase فِي l-arḍ 'in the land'. In the verses given, the frame appears with three main grammatical shapes. As a 2MP jussive in prohibition it occurs at (2:11), (7:56) and (7:85), where the speakers of (2:11) reject the charge with 'We are only those who set things right', and (7:56) and (7:85) both extend the frame with 'after its setting-right' (بَعْدَ إِصْلَٰحِهَا), setting the corruption against a prior repair. As a subjunctive it occurs at (12:73) with a 1st-person plural of purpose ('we did not come to cause ruin in the land'), at (7:127) with a 3MP of purpose ('so that they cause corruption in the land'), and at (47:22) with a 2MP in a hypothetical question ('you would work corruption in the land'). As an indicative it occurs at (17:4) with an emphatic 2MP ('you will surely cause corruption in the land twice'), and at (26:152) and (27:48) with a 3MP participle-like description ('who bring ruin in the land'), both of which immediately pair the frame with the negative 'and do not set things right' (وَلَا يُصْلِحُونَ). The frame thus serves to charge very different parties — a group told to desist, a group accused by chiefs, speakers denying the charge of themselves, and groups described as corrupters — with one identical activity, and in five of the nine verses it is explicitly set against the root ص-ل-ح, 'to set right'.
Where it occurs
- 2:11 The frame appears as a jussive prohibition addressed to a group, who answer that they are only those who set things right.
- 7:56 The frame appears as a jussive prohibition extended by 'after its setting-right', tying the corruption to a prior repair.
- 7:85 Shuʿayb's speech uses the frame as a jussive prohibition, again with 'after its setting-right', among commands about measure and weight.
- 12:73 The speakers use the frame in the 1st-person subjunctive to deny that they came to cause ruin in the land.
- 17:4 The frame appears as an emphatic 2MP indicative in a decree addressed to the Children of Israel: 'you will surely cause corruption in the land twice'.
- 26:152 The frame in the 3MP describes a group as 'those who bring ruin in the land and do not set things right'.
- 27:48 The frame in the 3MP describes nine bands in the city as 'causing ruin in the land and not setting things right'.
- 7:127 The chiefs use the frame in a 3MP subjunctive of purpose, asking whether Moses and his people will be left to cause corruption in the land.
- 47:22 The frame appears in a 2MP subjunctive in a question about what the addressees would do if they turned away, paired with severing womb-bonds.
All Qur'anic expressions