Tafsir of Hud 11:101

"And We did not wrong them": It is said that the pronoun refers to the "towns," intending by it their inhabitants, though their literal essence was intended first; thus, there is istikhdam (a rhetorical figure) in the speech. It is also said that the pronoun refers to the "inhabitants of the towns," because there is an implied genitive possessor (mudaf), meaning: "That is from the accounts of the inhabitants of the towns." Some pronouns refer to the mudaf, and others to the mudaf ilayh (the possessor), and once the matter is clarified, this is permissible.

Others argue that "the towns" is taken literally, and attributing the "accounts" to them is a metaphor, with the pronoun in "of them" (minha) referring to the towns, and the pronoun in "We wronged them" (ẓalamnahum) referring to the inhabitants understood from them. It is also said that "the towns" is a metaphor for their inhabitants, and both pronouns refer back to them under that consideration, or a mudaf is implied and both pronouns refer to it as well. Based on this, the interpretation reported from some regarding "some standing and some harvested" is explained: some whose lineage remains, and some whose lineage is severed. Regardless, the speech contains an announcement of the destruction of the inhabitants, so the meaning here is: "And We did not wrong them by destroying them, but they wronged themselves" by committing, through their ill-preparedness, that which necessitates such [destruction] according to the requirements of wisdom.

"So their gods, which they call upon besides Allah, availed them nothing": That is, they did not benefit them nor deflect the punishment of Allah the Almighty from them. "Which they call upon" (using the present tense) is to portray the past state or to indicate the continuity of their worship of them. "Anything" (min shay’) means any amount of availment, or any thing at all. "What" (ma) is a negative particle, not an interrogative one, although al-Samīn permitted the latter. "Avail" (aghnat) is connected to "what they have" because it contains the meaning of "deflecting." The final "from" (min) is an expletive, and its genitive object serves as an absolute object (maf’ul muṭlaq) or an object of the deflection.

His saying, Exalted is He: "When the command of your Lord came": That is, at the time of the arrival of His punishment. This is in the accusative case as an object of time for "availed." This is according to what is in al-Baḥr, based on a departure from the school of Sibawayh, for his school maintains that "when" (lamma) is a particle of "necessity for necessity."

There is a reading: "their gods, the ones who" (allāti), and "they are called upon" (yud‘awn) in the passive voice, which is an adjective for the gods, like the one in the famous reading. In this, there is a correspondence to the described noun which is not present in "the one which" (allatī). However, it is said, as in Jam’ al-Jawami’ by al-Jalal al-Suyuti, that "the one which" (allatī) for a non-rational collective is more frequent than "the ones who" (allātī). Indeed, the gods were treated in the verse as rational beings because their worshippers placed them in the position of rational beings in their belief that they benefit and harm. Thus, it is said: "And they added nothing to them but destruction".

Hence, it is said that "the ones who" (allātī) in that reading occupies the place of "those" (al-ulā or alladhīna). "Destruction" (tatbīb), according to al-Baḥr, is causing loss (takhsīr); it is said: tabba (he lost), and tabbabahu (he caused him to lose). Al-Jawhari mentioned that tabb is loss and destruction, and tatbīb is to destroy. In al-Qamus, tabb, tabab, tabab, and tatbīb are defined as deficiency and loss. Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn Umar and Mujahid the interpretation of this as "causing loss," and likewise al-Tustari recorded from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), except that he cited as evidence the saying of Bishr ibn Abi Khazim: "They severed the noses and destroyed them, and they left the tribe of Sa'd in ruin (tababan)." Thus, the meaning is: they added nothing to them but the causing of loss, or loss to their own selves, as they became deserving of the painful, eternal punishment for their worship of them. We ask Allah the Almighty for pardon and wellness.