Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:60

"They said, 'We heard a youth...'"

If you ask: What is the grammatical status of the two verbs following "We heard a youth," and what is the difference between them?

I say: Both are adjectives (descriptions) for "a youth." However, the first—yadhkuruhum (he mentions them)—is necessary for the verb "heard," because you cannot say "I heard Zayd" and then stop; you must mention something that was heard from him. The second verb is not like that.

If you ask: What is the status of "Ibrahim"?

I say: It is said to be the predicate of an omitted subject, or a vocative. The correct view is that it is the subject of the verb "said" (i.e., "Ibrahim said"), because the intent is the name itself, not the person named.

"Before the eyes of the people" This is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (hal), meaning "witnessed and observed," i.e., in their sight and view.

If you ask: What is the meaning of the "superiority" (isti'la') in the preposition 'ala (upon/before)?

I say: It is used metaphorically. It means that his arrival is established in their eyes and fixed there, just as a rider is fixed upon a mount and established upon it.

"That they may bear witness" Against him, regarding what they heard him say and what he did, or that they may be present for our punishment of him. It is narrated that the news reached Nimrod and the nobles of his people, so they ordered him to be brought.

"They said, 'Did you do this to our gods, O Ibrahim?' He said, 'Rather, this, the greatest of them, did it. So ask them, if they can speak.'"