Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:51
Then look how was the outcome of their plan - that We destroyed them and their people, all.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
His word فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ مَكْرِهِمْ ("so see how the end of their scheming was"): Allah, exalted is His remembrance, says: Look, O Muḥammad, with the eye of your heart at the end of Thamūd's treachery against their prophet Ṣāliḥ — how was it? And to what did their crime, their insolence, and their denial lead? For that is Our custom with whoever denies Our messengers and rebels against Us of the rest of creation. Warn your people of Quraysh that the same will befall them upon their denial of you as befell Thamūd upon their denial of Ṣāliḥ in the way of punishments.
His word أَنَّا دَمَّرْنَاهُمْ وَقَوْمَهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ ("that We destroyed them and their people all together"): he says: We destroyed the nine persons who spread corruption in the land from the people of Ṣāliḥ, and their people of Thamūd, all together, and We left none of them alive.
The reciters differed in the reading of the word "innā". The majority of the reciters of Ḥijāz and Baṣra read it with kasra — as a new beginning. The majority of the reciters of Kūfa read: أَنَّا دَمَّرْنَاهُمْ with fatḥa on the alif. When it is with fatḥa, there are two possible positions in the parsing: the first is the nominative, as referring back to "the end" as a substitute for it; the second is the accusative, as referring back to the position of "kayfa," for it stands in the accusative if one wishes, and if one wishes also as a repetition of "kāna" above it, in the sense of: see how the end of their scheming was — the end of their scheming was that We destroyed them.
Abū Jaʿfar says: the correct thing to say about this, in my opinion, is to say: they are two well-known readings in the Qurʾānic recitation of the regions, with a similar meaning. So the reciter who recites with either one of them has done well.
