Surah Adh-Dhariyat: (42) It leaves nothing...

There are several discussions regarding this verse:

The First Discussion: Its Grammatical Parsing (I'rab)

There are two main views on its parsing:

View 1: It is in the accusative case (mansub) as an adjective (sifah) describing the wind (al-rih), which itself is described by the adjective al-'aqim (barren).

• Objection: Al-Wahidi mentioned that it is an adjective. If so, how can a definite noun (like al-rih) be described by a verbal sentence (jumla), as only indefinite nouns are usually described by sentences?
• Response 1: The word al-rih is implied to be repeated, as if saying: "And We sent upon them the barren wind, a wind that leaves nothing..." (i.e., rihan ma tadhar).
• Response 2: The definite noun (al-rih) is treated as indefinite (nakirah) in this context because that specific wind was unprecedented. It is as if saying: "We sent the wind that was not among the winds that occur, nor has its like occurred." Due to its intensity, it is treated as indefinite. This is supported by instances where the wind is mentioned with the indefinite form and described by a sentence, such as: {But it is that which you were impatient for: a wind in which there is a painful punishment} (Al-Ahqaf: 24), and {A fierce, violent wind, which He subjected to them} (Al-Haqqah: 6-7), and others.

View 2 (The Stronger View): It is in the accusative case as a circumstantial adverb (hal).

• This is like saying, "He came to me understanding something, and I knew and understood him," meaning his state was thus.
• Objection: The state of "leaving nothing" (ma tadhar) did not exist at the time of sending (irsal). A circumstantial adverb should describe the state concurrent with the subject at the time of the action. One cannot say, "Zayd came to me yesterday riding tomorrow." The wind only became one that leaves nothing after it was sent.
• Response: What is intended here is a description of potentiality or fitness (al-bayan bi-al-salihiyyah). It means: "We sent it while it possessed the power and potentiality not to leave anything behind." This is analogous to telling someone who stayed with you for days and then asked you for something, "You came to me asking" (ji'ta-ni sa'ilan), meaning you came with the potential to ask. This applies if we maintain the accusative parsing, which is the famous view.

It is also possible that it is in the nominative case (marfu') as the predicate (khabar) of an omitted subject, meaning: "It [the wind] is that which leaves nothing."

The Second Discussion: The Tense of {ما تذر} (It leaves nothing)

The particle ma (ما) usually denotes negation in the present tense (e.g., ma yakhruju Zayd means "Zayd is not leaving now"). For the future, one uses la or lan (la yakhruju or lan yakhruju). For the past, one uses ma kharaja or lam yakhruj.

Since the wind, at the time of speaking to the Prophet (PBUH), had already left nothing but dust (i.e., it was a past event), why is the present tense form {ما تذر} used?

Response: The narration is understood as being reported as if it were happening at the moment of its occurrence (al-hikayah muqaddarah 'ala annaha mahkiyyah hal al-wuqu')—a narrative present tense. This is similar to the verse: {And your dog is stretching out his two forelegs at the entrance} (Al-Kahf: 18), even though the active participle (ism al-fa'il) usually denotes present or future action, not the past.

The Third Discussion: Hyperbole and Specificity in {ما تذر من شىء أتت عليه إلا جعلته كالرميم} (It leaves nothing it comes upon except it makes it like dust)

Does this phrase imply hyperbole or specificity, similar to {It destroys everything by the command of its Lord} (Al-Ahqaf: 25)?

Response: It is as it is stated. The phrase {أتت عليه} (it comes upon) describes {شىء} (thing). It is like saying: "Every thing it comes upon, it makes like dust," or "Every thing it will come upon, it makes like dust."

• The heavens are not included because the wind did not "come upon" them in the sense intended. Only physical objects that the wind blows upon are included.
• Objection: Mountains and rocks were certainly come upon by the wind, yet they were not made like dust.
• Response: What is meant is that the wind intentionally targeted them—specifically 'Ad and their structures and dwellings. Since they were commanded by God, it is as if the wind was specifically aiming at them, leaving nothing of those things except making it like dust.

Regarding the word sar (صر), which means a cold wind, and sar (صر) which means repetition: the meaning inherent in the word is conveyed without needing repetition. (e.g., Haththa and Haththatha both mean urging).

Regarding the meaning of sar in this context, there are two views:

1. It was a very cold wind, occurring during the "old woman's days" (eight days from the end of February to the beginning of March). Such cold wind burns trees, fruits, and other things, turning them black.
2. It was a hot wind, and sar means intense, not cold. This interpretation is supported by the verse {in a blast} (Adh-Dhariyat: 29), meaning in an intense heat.

The Fourth Discussion: The Relationship between Negation and Affirmation

In the verse {ما تذر من شىء أتت عليه إلا جعلته كالرميم} (It leaves nothing it comes upon except it makes it like dust), the negation (ma tadhar) denies leaving things behind, while affirming that it came upon them.

It is as if God is saying: "It comes upon things, and it does not leave them unburnt."

The structure of saying: "It did not come upon a thing except it made it thus," implies that anything it did not make thus, it did not come upon.

{And to Thamud, when it was said to them: "Enjoy yourselves for a while."}