Tafsir of An-Naml 27:52

{So those are their houses, empty...}

{So those are their houses} is a sentence confirming what preceded it. His saying, the Exalted, {empty}, means vacant, or collapsed, with their upper parts fallen upon their lower parts, as narrated from Ibn Abbas. {Because of what they wronged} means because of their mentioned wrongdoing. This is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for their houses, and the governing agent (‘amil) for it is the meaning of the indication (isharah).

Isa ibn Umar read it as {khawiyatun} in the nominative case, based on it being the predicate of an omitted subject—that is, "they are empty"—or a predicate following another predicate for "those," or a predicate for it, with "their houses" being an appositive (badal). These houses are the ones regarding which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to his companions during the year of Tabuk: "Do not enter upon these people who were punished, unless you are weeping," the rest of the hadith. They are in Wadi al-Qura, between Medina and the Levant.

{Indeed, in that}—that is, in what was mentioned regarding the extraordinary destruction brought about by their wrongdoing—{is a sign}, a great lesson, {for a people who know}, meaning for those whose nature it is to know things, or for a people who are characterized by knowledge. It has been said: "for a people who know this story," though this is of no account.

In this verse, it is said, there is evidence that wrongdoing is a cause for the ruin of dwellings. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "I find in the Book of Allah, the Exalted, that wrongdoing ruins houses," and he recited this verse. In the Torah [it is written]: "O son of Adam, do not commit wrongdoing, lest your house be ruined." It is said that this is an allusion to the destruction of the wrongdoer, for the ruin of his house follows his destruction. It is not hidden that wrongdoing—in the sense of injustice and aggression against the servants of Allah, the Exalted—is a cause for the ruin of houses, something witnessed frequently in these times. However, for it to be in the sense of disbelief is not the same. Yes, it is not unlikely that it applies to the disbelievers on the day their houses are ruined, if Allah, the Exalted, wills.