Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:11

His saying, Mighty and Majestic is He, "And how many a community have We crushed..." is a form of detailing the summary of His saying, "...and We destroyed the extravagant," and an explanation of the manner of their destruction, as well as an alert to their multitude.

"How many" (kam) is of the type that denotes a claim of multitude (khabariyyah), its place in the sentence is the accusative as the object of "crushed" (qasamna), and "of a community" (min qaryah) is its specifier (tamyiz).

In the word qasm—which denotes breaking by scattering the parts and destroying their cohesion entirely—as indicated by the introduction of the harsh letter Qaf, there is an implication of the intensity of wrath and the severity of displeasure that is not hidden.

His saying, Exalted is He, "that were wrongdoing," is an attribute of "community." The original, as has been said, was "people of a community," as indicated by the pronoun that follows, if Allah wills. Thus, the possessor (mudaf) was elided, and the possessed (mudaf ilayh) was put in its place, and it was described with the attribute that belonged to the possessor—that is, wrongdoing. It is as if it were said: "And many people of a community We have crushed, who were wrongdoers regarding the signs of Allah, denying them, just like you."

In Al-Kashshaf, the intended meaning of "community" is its people; therefore, it is described as being in a state of wrongdoing, which is a metaphorical usage regarding the two ends of the phrase. Some have said: You may say it is described as such by figurative attribution. His saying "We crushed a community" is a metonymy for crushing its people, due to the necessity of their destruction being linked to the destruction of the community; thus, there is no metaphor and no elision.

In any case, what is intended is not a specific community. Ibn al-Mundhir and others narrated from al-Kalbi that it refers to Hudur, a community in Yemen. Ibn Marduyah narrated via a chain from Abu Salih, from Ibn Abbas, that he said: "Allah sent a prophet from Himyar named Shu'ayb. A servant leaped upon him and struck him with a staff. Then Nebuchadnezzar marched toward them and fought them, killing them until not a soul remained among them, and it is regarding them that Allah revealed, 'And how many a community have We crushed,' et cetera."

In Al-Bahr, it is mentioned that these were in Hudur, that Allah sent them a prophet whom they killed, and Allah set Nebuchadnezzar upon them just as He set him upon the people of Jerusalem. He sent an army against them, and they defeated it; then he sent another, and they defeated it; then he went out to them himself and defeated and killed them. It is said by some that the name of this prophet was Musa ibn Misha. According to Ibn Wahb, the verse is regarding two communities in Yemen—one being Hudur and the other Qallabah—whose people grew arrogant, so Allah destroyed them at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.

It is clear that the apparent meaning of the verse rejects such specifications. The claim that it is like saying "How many of Zayd’s dirhams have you taken?"—where the prepositional phrase relates to "taken" and the specifier is omitted (i.e., "how many dirhams have you taken from the dirhams of Zayd")—and that it is said here that it implies "How many inhabitants of a community have We crushed," is something that should not be turned to except to refute it. Therefore, perhaps what is in the narrations should be understood as by way of example; and such [narrations] are not few.

Regarding His saying, Glorified is He, "and We originated after them," meaning: after the destruction of their people—not after that specific act, as some might imagine—"another people," meaning: they are in no way related to them. This is an alert to the complete eradication of the former ones and the severing of their roots entirely. This is the secret behind presenting the account of the origination of these later ones before the account of the beginnings of the destruction of the former ones in His saying, Glorified is He: