Tafsir of Hud 11:103

{In that} is a reference to the stories God recounted regarding the nations destroyed for their sins.

{is a sign for those who fear}—that is, a lesson for them. Because when one looks at what God brought upon the criminals in this world, it is but a sample of what He has prepared for them in the Hereafter. When one sees its magnitude and severity, one considers the magnitude of the promised punishment. Thus, it becomes a lesson, an admonition, and a grace in increasing piety and fear of God Almighty. Similar to this is: “In that is a lesson for whoever fears” (An-Nazi’at: 26).

{That} is a reference to the Day of Resurrection, because the punishment of the Hereafter points to it.

{The people} is in the nominative case because of the passive participle (majmū‘), just as it would be in the nominative if you used the verb, as in: yujma‘u lahu an-nās (the people are gathered for it).

If you ask: "What is the benefit of preferring the passive participle over the verb?" I say: It is because the passive participle indicates the permanence of the meaning of "gathering" for that day—that it is a day that must be a fixed appointment for the gathering of people, and that it is a necessary, inherent attribute of that day. It is also more emphatic in attributing the gathering to the people, implying they cannot escape it. Its equivalent is the saying of one who threatens: "You are one whose wealth is plundered, whose people are raided." This contains a firmness and permanence of description not found in the verb. If you wish, compare it to His saying: “The Day He gathers you for the Day of Gathering” (At-Taghabun: 9), and you will stumble upon the truth of what I have told you.

The meaning of {gathered for it} is: gathered for what it contains of reckoning, reward, and punishment.

{A witnessed day}—meaning, witnessed in it. The adverbial usage is expanded by treating it as a direct object, like the poet’s saying: And a day we witnessed, Salīm and ‘Āmir. Meaning: the creatures witness the standing place in it; no one is absent from it. What is meant by "witnessed" is that which has many witnesses. From this is their saying: "So-and-so has a witnessed gathering," and "food is attended." The poet said: In a gathering of the elite of the people, witnessed.

If you ask: "What prevents you from making the 'Day' witnessed in itself, rather than witnessed in it, as God Almighty said: 'So whoever witnesses the month, let him fast it' (Al-Baqarah: 185)?"

I say: The purpose is to describe that day by its terror and greatness, distinguishing it from all other days. If you made it "witnessed in itself," then all other days are likewise witnessed. But it is made "witnessed in it" so that the distinction is achieved, just as Friday is distinguished from the days of the week by being "witnessed in it" (by the congregation) unlike the others. It is not permissible for it to be "witnessed in itself," because the rest of the days of the week are like it; everyone who witnesses one witnesses the others. Likewise, His saying: “So whoever witnesses the month, let him fast it”—the "month" is an adverbial accusative, not a direct object, and the same applies to the pronoun in “fast it.” The meaning is: "Whoever of you witnesses [is present] in the month, let him fast in it." That is: whoever among you is a resident, present in his homeland during the month of Ramadan, let him fast in it. If you were to make it a direct object, then both the traveler and the resident would "witness the month," but the resident witnesses it while the traveler is absent from it.

{And We do not delay it except for a counted term}