Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:197

"Or has it not been..."

It is recited as yakun (masculine), with āyah (sign) in the accusative case as its predicate, and an yaʿlamahu (that the scholars of the Children of Israel know it) as its subject.

It is also recited as takun (feminine), with āyah as the subject and an yaʿlamahu as the predicate. This differs from the first reading because it places the indefinite noun as the subject and the definite noun as the predicate. Another interpretation has been proposed to avoid this: that takun contains the "pronoun of the matter" (ḍamīr al-qiṣṣah), and the sentence an yaʿlamahu ʿulamāʾu banī Isrāʾīl functions as the predicate. It is also permissible in this view for lahum āyah to be the "sentence of the matter," with an yaʿlamahu acting as a substitute (badal) for āyah.

With āyah in the accusative, it is permissible to use the feminine takun, as in the Almighty’s saying: "Then there was no [fitnatuhum] except that they said..." (Al-Anʿām: 23). From this also comes the verse of Labīd: He departed and put it forward, and it was his habit whenever it [the camel] shied away, to steady its feet.

It is also recited as taʿlamahu (with a tāʾ).

"The scholars of the Children of Israel": ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām and others. The Almighty said: "And when it is recited to them, they say, 'We have believed in it; indeed, it is the truth from our Lord. Indeed we were, [even] before it, Muslims.'" (Al-Qaṣaṣ: 53).

If you ask: Why is it written in the Muṣḥaf as yaʿlamuhu (with a wāw before the alif)? I say: It is written according to the dialect of those who incline the alif toward the wāw. In this same dialect, al-ṣalāh (prayer), al-zakāh (alms), and al-ribā (usury) are written.

"And if We had revealed it to any of the non-Arabs, and he had recited it to them, they would not have been believers in it. Thus have We inserted it into the hearts of the criminals. They will not believe in it until they see the painful punishment, so it will come to them suddenly while they do not perceive it. Then they will say, 'Are we to be reprieved?' So do they seek to hasten Our punishment? Then have you considered if We gave them enjoyment for years, then there came to them that which they were promised? What availed them that which they were made to enjoy?"