Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:24

"فما كان جواب قومه" – with the accusative case (naṣb) because it is the predicate of kāna, and its noun is the statement of the Almighty: "إلا أن قالوا اقتلوه أو حرقوه". Al-Hasan and Salim al-Aftas recited it in the nominative case (raf‘) as the inverse; what is contained therein regarding its counterparts has already passed.

The intent by "killing" is that which occurs by sword or similar means, thus the contrast to "burning" is evident. There is no need to interpret "or" (aw) as meaning "nay" (bal). Those ordering this were either some of them to others, or their elders saying to their followers: "Kill him, so you may be rid of him immediately, or burn him with fire; for he will either return to your religion when the fire scorches him, or he will die by it if he persists in his statement and religion." In any case, this involves attributing the act of some to the whole.

The oscillation here between killing him (peace be upon him) and burning him may stem from different speakers—some people suggesting killing, and others suggesting burning. In the [surah of] Al-Anbiya’, "they said, 'Burn him,'" they confined themselves to one of the two things, which is what they actually did: they cast him (peace be upon him) into the fire and did not kill him.

Furthermore, it is not intended that nothing proceeded from them in response to his arguments (peace be upon him) except this abominable statement, as is the immediate implication of the noble wording. Rather, this is what their response settled upon after much back and forth, in the final instance; otherwise, there proceeded from them an uncountable amount of myths and falsehoods.

{ فأنجاه الله من النار } – The fa is faṣīḥah (eloquent/explicative), meaning: "So they cast him into the fire, and Allah the Almighty saved him from it," by Him, the Glorified, making it cool and safe for him, as has been explained in other places. The explanation of the manner in which he (peace be upon him) was cast into it and how He, the Almighty, saved him from it has already passed. This occurred in Kutha, in the environs of Kufa. The claim that it took place in the location famous today in the land of Urfa—where there is an image of a catapult and water containing fish that are not caught or eaten out of reverence for him—has no basis.

{ إن في ذلك } – meaning, in his (peace be upon him) being saved from it, { لآيات } – clear, wondrous signs, namely: the Almighty’s protection of him from its heat, its being extinguished in a short time, and the creation of a garden in its place. It is narrated from Ka‘b that nothing was burned by the fire except the rope with which they had bound him (peace be upon him). Were it not for the placement of the demonstrative pronoun in the midst of the narrative, it would have been more appropriate for it to refer to what is contained therein { لقوم يؤمنون } – He specified them by mention because they are the ones who benefit from investigating and contemplating these signs.