Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:208

{مُنذِرِينَ} They are messengers who warn them.

{ذِكْرَىٰ} It is in the accusative case, meaning "a reminder" (tadhkirah). This is for several reasons:

1. Because "warning" (indhar) and "reminding" (dhikr) are close in meaning; it is as if it were said: "They are warners [bringing] a reminder."
2. It is a state (hal) from the pronoun in "warners" (mundhirin), meaning: they warn them while being possessors of a reminder.
3. It is an object for the sake of which the action is done (maf'ul lahu), meaning: they warn them for the sake of exhortation and reminder.
4. It is in the nominative case as the predicate of an omitted subject, meaning: "This is a reminder," and the sentence is parenthetical.
5. It is an adjective, meaning: "warners possessing a reminder."
6. They are made into a "reminder" themselves, due to their thoroughness and elaboration in warning.

Another perspective: Dhikra is linked to "We destroyed" (ahlakna) as an object for the sake of which the action is done. The meaning is: We did not destroy any town of wrongdoers except after We established the proof against them by sending warners to them, so that their destruction might be a reminder and a lesson for others, that they might not disobey as they disobeyed.

{وَمَا كُنَّا ظَالِمِينَ} We would not destroy a people who are not wrongdoers. This is the most reliable interpretation.

If you ask: How is the waw (conjunction) omitted from the sentence after "except" (illa), whereas it was not omitted in His saying: “And We did not destroy any town except that it had a known decree” (Al-Hijr: 4)?

I say: The original rule is to omit the waw because the sentence is an adjective for "town." If it is added, it is to emphasize the connection of the adjective to the noun it describes, as in His saying: “Seven, and the eighth of them is their dog” (Al-Kahf: 22).

{وَمَا تَنَزَّلَتْ بِهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ * وَمَا يَنبَغِي لَهُمْ وَمَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ * إِنَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّمْعِ لَمَعْزُولُونَ}