Tafsir of An-Naml 27:48

(And there were in the city), meaning the city of Thamud and their village, which is Al-Hijr, (nine gangs/groups [Rahṭ]).

Rahṭ is a collective noun used for a group of fewer than ten, as stated by Al-Raghib. In Al-Kashshaf, it is said to be from three up to seven, or up to ten. It has also been said that it is used up to forty, though this is not accepted. Its root, as reported from Al-Kirmani, is al-tarhīṭ, meaning the enlarging of morsels and excessive eating. The number has been attributed to it here. There is a difference of opinion regarding the permissibility of attributing a number to a collective noun; Al-Akhfash held that it is not analogical, and whatever has occurred of such attribution is rare. Sibawayh explicitly stated that one does not say "three flocks" (thalāth ghanam).

A group [of scholars] held that it is permissible and analogical, albeit rare. Others distinguished between whether the collective noun is for a small number—like rahṭ (gang), nafar (group), and dhawd (herd)—in which case it is permissible to attribute [a number] to it, treating it as a plural of paucity; or whether it is for a large number, or used for both, in which case it is not permissible to attribute [the number] to it. Rather, if one intends to specify it with a number, it must be brought accompanied by min (e.g., "five of the people"), as the Almighty said: “Take four of the birds” (2:260). This is the view of Al-Mazini. Many have chosen the view that the attribution of "nine" to "gangs" (rahṭ) here is based on the fact that rahṭ, being a collective noun for a small number, is equivalent to ashkhāṣ (persons) and similar plurals of paucity, to which a number is added—such as tisʿat ashkhāṣ (nine persons) and tisʿat anfus (nine souls). This is the meaning of their saying that rahṭ functions as a specification (tamyīz) for the nine in terms of meaning; as if it were said: "nine persons." It is also said that it means "nine souls," and the number is feminine because what is mentioned in the noble text is rahṭ, which is masculine; therefore, this is not a departure from eloquence, like the phrases "three souls" or "three herds." Indeed, the estimation mentioned above is safer from debate. As for what was said—that it means "nine men"—it reflects an inattention to what we have pointed out. Furthermore, the intent is not that rahṭ means "person" or "soul," but that the nine individuals or souls constitute the rahṭ. The counted object for the nine is not the collective group denoted by rahṭ, such that there would be nine groups, but rather nine individual members.

The Imam said: It is more likely that the meaning is nine groups (aḍrub), for what is apparent from rahṭ is a group. It is possible they were tribes, and it is possible they were included under this number due to the difference in their qualities and conditions, not due to a difference in lineage.

It is also said that these nine were leaders, with each one of them having a gang, and thus it was said "nine gangs." Their names, according to Wahb, are: Hudhayl bin ʿAbd Rabb, Ghanm bin Ghanm, Dabbab bin Mihraj, ʿUmayr bin Kurdiyya, ʿAsim bin Makhrama, Sabit bin Sadaqa, Samʿan bin Safi, and Qudar bin Salif. They are the ones who strove to hamstring the she-camel, and they were the tyrants of the people of Salih and the sons of their nobles. Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn Abbas that their names were: Daʿma, Daʿīm, Harmi, Huraym, Dawwab, Sawwab, Diyab, Musattah, and Qudar, who was the one who hamstrung the camel.

(They were causing corruption in the land)—not only in the city—an absolute corruption in which nothing of righteousness was mixed, as indicated by His saying: (and they would not reform), meaning they did not do any act of reform, or they did not reform any of the things [they touched]. The intent is that this corruption was their constant habit, as the imperfect tense (yuṣliḥūn) indicates. The sentence is in the position of an adjective for rahṭ or for tisʿa (the nine).