Tafsir of Al-Hajj 22:45

"And how many a city..."

Every elevated thing that shades you—whether the roof of a house, a tent, a canopy, or a trellis—is an ‘arsh (throne/roof).

Al-khawiyah (the fallen/empty): It is derived from khawa (to fall), as in the saying "the star fell." Or it means "empty," as in the saying "the house became empty of its inhabitants."

Regarding the phrase "fallen upon its roofs" (‘ala ‘urushiha):

1. It may be linked to khawiyah, meaning the roofs collapsed to the ground, and then the walls fell upon the roofs.
2. It may mean the city is empty while its roofs remain intact.
3. It may be a predicate following a predicate; as if it were said: "It is empty, and it is upon its roofs," meaning the walls remain standing, overlooking the roofs that have collapsed to the ground.

If you ask: What is the grammatical position of the two sentences: "And it was wrongdoing" (wa hiya zalimah) and "so it is fallen" (fahiya khawiyah)? I reply: The first is in the position of an accusative state (hal). The second has no grammatical position because it is conjoined to "We destroyed it" (ahlaknaha), and that verb has no position.

Al-Hasan read it as mu‘attalah (abandoned/neglected), from a‘talahu (to leave idle). The meaning of mu‘attalah is that it was once thriving with water and equipment for drawing it, but it was abandoned—meaning it was left unused for drawing water because its people perished.

Al-mashid (the lofty): That which is plastered or has a raised structure.

The meaning is: How many a city have We destroyed? How many a well have We abandoned, preventing its use for watering? And how many a lofty palace have We emptied of its inhabitants? The mention of the well was omitted because the word mu‘attalah (abandoned) implies it. This is evidence that the phrase "upon its roofs" in the Quran carries the meaning of "with" (i.e., the city and its roofs together).

It is narrated that this was a well where Salih (peace be upon him) descended with four thousand people who believed in him, and God saved them from the torment. It is located in Hadhramaut. It was named "the well" because when Salih arrived there, he died. There is a town near the well called Hadura, built by the people of Salih. They appointed Jalhas ibn Jallas over them and lived there for a time, then they disbelieved and worshipped an idol. God sent them Hanzala ibn Safwan as a prophet, but they killed him. So, God destroyed them, abandoned their well, and ruined their palaces.

"Have they not traveled through the land, and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are within the breasts."