Tafsir of Nuh 71:22

"And they conspired a great conspiracy"

"And they conspired" (wa makaru): This is a conjunction attached to the relative clause (silah) of the collective pronoun, considering its meaning, just as the use of the singular in the preceding pronouns was in consideration of its wording. There is an indication in this that they gathered together in their conspiracy so that it might be more intense and greater. It has been said that it is a conjunction attached to "they disobeyed me" (‘asawni). The first [interpretation] is more appropriate, as it indicates that the leaders added leading others astray to their own misguidance, which is more consistent with the context, for the obvious implication is that what follows it is also a description of the leaders. Considering that conjunction, the meaning is that they conspired against one another, and some said against each other, which is contrary to the obvious implication.

"A great conspiracy" (makran kubara): That is, great to the furthest limit; it is among the forms of hyperbole. 'Isa ibn 'Umar said: "It is a dialect of Yemen," and upon it is the saying of the poet:

A fair woman who hunts hearts, and captures Through beauty the heart of the devout Muslim.

And his saying: And the man whom the youths of generosity welcome Is the one of noble character, not the one who is merely handsome.

Some rough Bedouins once heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt him and grant him peace, reciting this verse, and they said: "How eloquent is your Lord, O Muhammad!" If the nunation (tanwin) in makran is considered for the purpose of magnification (tafkhim), it increases the intensity of the exaggeration regarding their conspiracy—that is, great to the furthest degree—and that refers to their stratagems regarding the religion, their turning people away from it, and their inciting and provoking others to harm Noah, upon him be peace.

'Isa, Ibn Muhaisin, and Abu al-Summal read it as kubara with the thinning (takhfif) of the ba’. It is also a form of hyperbole, though less intense than the doubled version. Similar to kubara are hissan, tuwal, ‘ujab, and jamal, along with many other terms. Zayd ibn 'Ali and Ibn Muhaisin, according to what Wahb ibn Wadih narrated from him, read it as kibara with a kasrah on the kaf and a fathah on the ba’. Ibn al-Anbari said: "It is the plural of kabir (great)," as if he made makran (conspiracy) take the place of sins or acts; meaning, therefore, it was described with the plural.