Tafsir of Al-Fajr 89:7

The Exalted’s saying, "Iram," is an explanatory appositive (bayān) for "‘Ād," to signal that they are the first ‘Ād. It is permissible for it to be a substitute (badal). It is prevented from declension (sarf) due to being a proper noun and feminine, considering the term as referring to the tribe, while "‘Ād" is declined because it refers to the clan; though it may also be prevented from declension in reference to the tribe. Al-Daḥḥāk read it as prevented from declension in one of the two narrations from him, and some favored the view of its declension due to its lightness caused by the quiescence of its middle letter.

Some have estimated an implied word in the discourse, meaning: "the offspring of Iram," making Iram the name of their mother—a view mentioned in the Qāmūs—and the reason for it being prevented from declension is then apparent. Some scholars refused to accept anything other than it being the name of their grandfather, with the meaning of their being his "offspring" being that they are his children’s children; however, the cause for it being prevented from declension does not appear under this interpretation, which is perhaps what led to the view that it is the name of their mother. Yet, I have seen in the annotations of some eminent scholars on the ‘Iṣāmī glosses upon the Tafsīr of al-Bayḍāwī that "Iram" is prevented from declension—whether it is the name of the tribe or their grandfather—due to it being a proper noun and non-Arabic. They stated that these two factors are also present in "‘Ād," but because "‘Ād" is triliteral with a quiescent middle letter, both declension and non-declension are permissible in it, and they asserted that this is the truth.

Mujāhid, Qatādah, and Ibn Isḥāq held the view that it is the name of the tribe, and under this view, there is no need to estimate an implied word. Thus, the Exalted’s saying, "Dhu al-Imad" (Possessor of Columns), is an attribute of Iram itself. The intended meaning is those possessing tall statures, likening their heights to columns; from this is the saying "mu‘ammad" and "‘umdān" when someone is tall. This is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās and Mujāhid, and it is famously held that the height of one of them was twelve cubits or more. In the Tafsīr of al-Kawāshī, they said: "The height of the tallest among them was four hundred cubits, and one of them would take a massive rock and overturn it upon a clan, destroying them."

From Qatādah and Ibn ‘Abbās, in a narration from ‘Aṭā’, the intended meaning is "possessors of tents and poles." They were nomadic in the spring, and when the vegetation withered, they returned to their settlements. Many have said: "They were Bedouins, people of poles and tents, which they occupied in their settling and traveling." It is also said that it means "possessors of loftiness," or "possessors of dignity," or "possessors of steadfastness and longevity." All of these interpretations are based on metaphor.