Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:40

(So We took him and his hosts and cast them into the sea), meaning: We threw them and drowned them in it. The details of this have already passed. The expression "casting" (nabdh)—which is to throw away something insignificant and discard it due to a lack of regard for it—is used here. For this reason, the poet said:

I looked at its address, then I cast it away, As you would cast away a worn-out sandal of yours.

This is out of contempt for them. It has been said that the speech contains a makniyyah (allusive) and takhayyuliyyah (imaginative) metaphor: they are likened in their insignificance to worn-out sandals, the name "sandals" is borrowed for them, then the borrowed term is omitted while the one to whom it is borrowed remains, and the act of "casting" is made an indication of this. The figurative aspect (majaz) in the connection is similar to what is said regarding "the talons of death have hooked so-and-so."

Some have said: "The taking" (al-akhdh), which is literal for grasping, is a metaphor for creating the motive in them to travel toward the sea, and "the casting" (al-nabdh) is a metaphor for creating the motive in them to enter it; and "the sea" is a metonymy for causing them to enter it.

The most appropriate view is that the speech is of the tamthil (parabolic/representative) variety, as if He, the Almighty and Majestic, in what He did with them, took them—despite their multitude—in the palm of His hand and threw them into the sea.

It is apparent that the first fa (in fa-akhadhnahu) is causative, not merely for sequence. As for the second fa (in fa-nabadhnahum), it denotes sequence if "the taking" is kept to the meaning of grasping or if it is intended to mean the creation of the motive to travel or the like. However, if "the taking" is intended to mean destruction, then it (the fa) is for explanation/elaboration, as in: "So We answered him and saved him," and the like.

(So observe, O Muhammad, how was the end of the wrongdoers), and explain it to the people so that they may take a lesson from it.