۞ فَخَلَفَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ أَضَاعُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَلْقَوْنَ غَيًّا
Fakhalafa mim ba'dihim khalfun adaa'us Salaata wattaba'ush shahawaati fasawfa yalqawna ghaiyaa
But after them came successors who abandoned prayer and followed their desires — they will meet ruin,
Arabic distinguishes two forms of the same word for a successor, one used of a worthy heir and one of an unworthy one, and this verse takes the second. The verb for what they did to prayer means letting it go to waste, which is why the tradition divided over whether it describes leaving prayer altogether or letting its time slip past. Either reading turns on the line just before, where the prophets are on the ground weeping.