Tafsir of Muhammad 47:13

"Ka-ayyin" (وكأين) carries the meaning of "Kam" (how many) used for informational purposes (al-khabariyyah), and it is a nominal sentence-starter (mubtada'). The words "min qaryah" (من قرية) serve as its specifier (tamyiz). The Almighty’s words, "hiya ashaddu quwwatan min qaryatika" (هي أشد قوة من قريتك), constitute an adjective for "qaryah," just as His words, "allati akhrajatka" (التي أخرجتك), constitute an adjective for "qaryatika." In both instances, the annexed term (mudaf) has been omitted, and its grammatical rulings have been applied to the entities mentioned, as clarified by the predicate, which is His saying: "ahlaknāhum" (أهلكناهم)—meaning, "And how many [peoples of a] town that were stronger in power than the people of your town, who drove you out, have We destroyed with various types of punishment."

It is permissible that there is no omission, but rather the place is mentioned while the state of its inhabitants is intended, by way of figurative speech (majaz). Attributing the "driving out" to the people of his town—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—which is the honored Makkah, is a figurative expression belonging to the category of attribution to the cause; for they treated him—may Allah exalt him and grant him peace—in such a manner that they became the cause of his departure when Allah—the Almighty—granted him permission to migrate from it.

An analogy for this is: "Your city has 'advanced' [my coming] to me; it has a right over me." You know that, according to what the leading scholars have verified, this admits three possibilities:

1. A figurative attribution, if "advancing" is used in the meaning it was coined for, even if it is imaginary.
2. A figurative use of the prepositional phrase (zarf), used in the sense of an incitement to arrive.
3. A metaphorical metonymy (isti'arah bil-kinayah), if "right" is used in the sense of the one who precedes.

The Sheikh says regarding such expressions: "The transitive verb is imaginary and has no agent, so that the attribution to it might become a reality." There is no actual "advancing" in the intent of the speaker; rather, it is a portrayal of the arrival in the form of an advance, attributing it to the "right" portrayed in the form of the one who advances, as an exaggeration of its role in prompting the arrival. Al-Salkuti approved of this in his annotations on the commentary of Mukhtasar al-Talkhis, and he defended it against objections. The discussion on that is exhaustive elsewhere, and the discussion of this verse follows that pattern.

Describing the first town as having "greater power" is intended to indicate that the second town is more deserving of destruction, due to the relative weakness of its power. Likewise, describing the second town by the act of "driving him out"—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is to indicate that it is more deserving of [punishment] due to the severity of its crime. Consistent with this style is the statement of Al-Nabigha: "Kulayb, by my life, had more supporters and a lesser crime than you, yet he was stained with blood."

This clarifies their lack of salvation through helpers and supporters, following the clarification that they could not be saved by their own selves. The particle "fa" (ف) denotes the sequencing of the mention of salvation through others after the mention of salvation by one's own self. It is a narrative of a past state, as in the Almighty’s words: "So We have covered them, and they do not see." We do not concede that the active participle (ism al-fa'il) functions grammatically in a way that necessitates the past tense; rather, the verse is a source of consolation for him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

'Abd ibn Humayd, Abu Ya'la, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Mardawayh reported from Ibn Abbas that when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—left Makkah toward the cave, he turned toward Makkah and said: "You are the most beloved of Allah’s lands to Allah, and you are the most beloved of Allah’s lands to me. Were it not that your people drove me out of you, I would never have left you." He then added: "The most hostile of enemies is one who shows hostility to Allah—the Almighty—in His sanctuary, or kills one who is not his killer, or kills out of the habits of the Days of Ignorance." Then Allah—the Exalted—revealed: "Ka-ayyin min qaryah" (And how many a town...), etc. What relates to this has already been mentioned at the beginning of the Surah, so recall it.