Tafsir of Az-Zukhruf 43:8

(Then We destroyed those who were stronger than them in power): This is another form of consolation for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

The pronoun in "than them" refers to the extravagant ones being addressed, not to that to which the pronoun in "does there come to them" refers, because the Almighty said: (And the example of the former peoples has passed)—meaning those who preceded them in the Quran, whose stories—which deserve to be circulated as proverbs—have been mentioned more than once.

Batshan (power) is in the accusative case as a specifier (tamyiz). It is permissible for it to be a circumstantial qualifier (hal) from the subject of "We destroyed," meaning "we being powerful"; however, the first view is better. Describing those [previous nations] as having greater strength is intended to establish the applicability of their judgment [of destruction] to these people, as a matter of priority. And His saying, the Almighty: