An-Nahl: (26) "Those before them had already plotted..."

"Those before them had already plotted" — this is a threat to them regarding the return of the evil consequences of their plotting upon themselves, like the habit of those before them among the past nations upon whom descended what descended of immediate punishment.

"Plotting" (Makr) is diverting someone from what he intends by means of a stratagem. It is used here—as has been said—as a metaphor for engaging in the causes of [a goal] and arranging its premises, because what follows indicates that the diversion did not actually occur. It is permissible that it contains tajrid (abstraction), meaning: they set up plans and stratagems to deceive the messengers of Allah—peace and blessings be upon them.

"So Allah came to their structure from the foundations" — meaning, from the direction of the supports and pillars upon which they built, by shaking and destabilizing them. "From" (min) is for the beginning of a limit. "Structure" (bunyan) is a singular masculine noun, though Al-Raghib reported from some linguists that it is a plural of bunyanah, like sha'ir (barley) and sha'irah (a grain of barley), or tamr (dates) and tamrah (a date), and nakhl (palm trees) and nakhlah (a palm tree). This type of plural permits both masculine and feminine agreement.

The root of "coming" (ityan), as has been stated, is arriving with ease; this is impossible in its apparent sense for Him—Exalted is He. Therefore, some found it necessary to estimate an omitted noun, meaning: "The command of Allah came." This is narrated from Qatadah, and Al-Kashshaf treats it as the phrase "Time came upon him" (ata 'alayhi ad-dahru), meaning it destroyed and annihilated him; in that case, there is no need to estimate the omitted noun.

It was read as (biniyatihim), which has the same meaning as bina'ihim. It is said: I built (banaytu), I build (abni), a construction (bina'), a structure (biniyah), and bunan. Indeed, often biniyah is used to refer to the Ka'bah. Ja'far and Ad-Dahhak read it as (buyutihim - their houses).

"Then the roof fell upon them from above them" — meaning the roof of their structure collapsed upon them, for it is inconceivable for it to remain standing after the destruction of its foundations. "From" (min) is connected to "fell" (kharra), and it is for the beginning of the limit, or it is connected to a suppressed state, serving as an emphasis for "the roof." Ibn 'Atiyyah and Ibn al-A'rabi said that "from above them" is not an emphasis, because the Arabs say: "A roof fell upon us" and "A wall collapsed upon us" if it collapses within the property of the speaker, even if it does not literally fall upon him. It serves here to explain that they were beneath it when it collapsed. Some people claim that "upon" ('ala) here is in the sense of "because of" ('an), serving as a causal agent, and the speech is based on the estimation of an omitted noun—meaning: the roof fell because of their disbelief. Bringing "from above them" along with "fell" is intended to dispel the illusion that they might have fallen while not being beneath it. It is not hidden that this [interpretation] is an unnecessary lengthening, indeed, it is speech that should not be uttered by a learned person.

The discourse is a parable; it means that their state in setting up their plans and stratagems to plot against the messengers of Allah—peace and blessings be upon them—and Allah’s invalidation of them and making them a cause of their destruction, is like the state of a people who built a structure and propped it up with pillars, so it [the destruction/Allah's command] came to it from the direction of its pillars, shaking them, so the roof fell upon them and they perished beneath it.

The point of similarity is that what they set up and imagined to be a cause of fortification and mastery became a cause of ruin and extinction. The pillars are in the place of the plans, and their turning against them in destruction is like the turning of those stratagems against their authors. The "structure" is what they forged, promoted those plans within, and colluded upon in terms of strategy reinforced by treachery. Similar to this is the saying: "Whoever digs a pit for his brother will fall into it headlong."

Approaching this is the opinion that the meaning is: "Allah invalidated their deeds." It is also said that the matter is based on reality: that Nimrod, son of Canaan, built a tower in Babylon to ascend—by his claim—to the heavens to know their affairs and fight their inhabitants. He exceeded in its height, and its length in the sky, according to what Al-Naqqash narrated—and it is reported from Ka'b—was two farsakhs. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) and Wahb said its height was five thousand cubits and its width three thousand cubits. So Allah sent a wind upon it, destroyed it, and its roof fell upon him and his followers, and they perished. It is said that Gabriel (peace be upon him) demolished it with his wing. When it fell, people became confused out of terror and spoke on that day in seventy-three languages, which is why it was called "Babel" (Babylon); and the language of the people before that was Syriac.

It is not hidden that there is a contradiction in this report to the well-known view, because its implication is that the destruction of Nimrod was by what was mentioned, while the well-known view is that he perished after the story of the tower, and Allah destroyed him with a gnat that entered his brain to demonstrate the perfection of his baseness and incapacity. He—Exalted is He—rewarded him according to the nature of his deed, because he ascended toward the sky with eagles, so Allah destroyed him with the basest of birds.

What was mentioned regarding the reason for the naming of the place known as Babylon is the well-known version. In Mu'jam al-Buldan, it says that the city of Babylon is Burasf the tyrant, and its name is derived from [the planet] Jupiter, because Babylon in the first Babylonian language is the name for Jupiter, and Alexander destroyed it. As for the mention that the language before that was Syriac, Al-Baghawi mentioned it, and Al-Khazin questioned it, as Salih (peace be upon him) and his people were earlier, and they spoke Arabic, and tribes before Abraham (peace be upon him), such as Tasam and Jadis, also spoke Arabic. This can be refuted through careful consideration.

Ad-Dahhak said: The verse is a reference to the people of Lot (peace be upon him) and what was done to them and their villages. This interpretation is also based on reality. A group chose to base it on the parable as you have heard. According to this [view], the intended meaning of "those who disbelieved from before" includes all those who plot whose structures were demolished over them and who were left in total confusion (wa saqata fi aydihim).

Al-A'raj, Zayd bin Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both), and Mujahid read it as as-suquf (with the sin with a damma only). Both are plurals of saqf, and while fa'ul and fu'ul—as Abu Hayyan said—are preserved in the plural of fa'l, they are not the standard analogy; suquf is the standard. A group read it as as-saqf (with the sin opened and qaf with a damma), which is a dialect for saqf. It is mentioned that the original is with a damma on the qaf and a sukun on the sin, and its usage became frequent in the opposite of their saying: "A man" (rajul)—with fathah then damma—and "A man" (rajl)—with fathah then sukun—which is a Tamimite dialect.

"And the punishment came to them from where they did not perceive" — by its arrival from that direction; rather, they expected the arrival of its opposite from what they desired and lusted for. The intended meaning is the immediate punishment. In connecting this sentence to what preceded it is an alarming of the matter of their destruction, and it indicates that what is intended by it is the immediate [punishment].