تَنزِعُ النّاسَ كَأَنَّهُم أَعجازُ نَخلٍ مُنقَعِرٍ
Knocking down people as if they were trunks of uprooted palm trees.
EXEGESIS
Tanziʿu (knocking down) is the feminine imperfect conjugate from nazaʿa which means to pluck out, to pull, or to divest, as in, You divest of (tanziʿu) sovereignty whomever You wish (3:26). The subject of tanziʿu in the verse is the wind that was mentioned in the previous verse. It plucked and pulled the people from their places and knocked them down. Some exegetes have added the quality of forcefulness to the meaning of tanziʿu.[1]
It has been reported that they sought shelter in holes in the ground and held on to each other, but the strong winds plucked or pulled them out.[2]
Aʿjāz (trunks) is the plural of ʿajuz which refers to the backside or bottom side of something. In this context, it refers to the trunk of a palm tree.[3]
Munqaʿir (uprooted) comes from qaʿr which means the lowest part or the depth of something. The word munqaʿir means that which has been uprooted or pulled out from its foundations, i.e. from its deepest part.[4]
EXPOSITION
The people of ʿĀd have been compared in this verse to uprooted trunks of palm trees (also see 69:7). The simile expressively depicts the strength of the people of ʿĀd, and at the same time the force and the strength of the wind.
Exegetes have differed as to what is the similarity between people of ʿĀd and uprooted palm trunks. Some have said this is a reference to their tall statures;[5] according to 7:69, the people of ʿĀd had been blessed with enormous physical size and strength. It has been attributed to Mujāhid that the strong winds decapitated their heads,[6] whilst others add that their arms were also severed, and thus the rest of their bodies could be compared to tree trunks.[7] This line of reasoning is in line with the understanding that the verse is presenting a picture of what their state was after the strong winds had befallen them. Ibn ʿĀshūr adds that the winds were so strong that it threw them on the ground with such force that it tore out their stomachs and intestines, leaving their bodies hollow.[8] This meaning is line with 69:7 which describes them as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.
However, other exegetes opine that the verse is presenting a metaphor to show their state whilst the strong wind began attacking them. Based on this, it is a reference to their method of protecting themselves from the punishment, i.e. they planted themselves in the ground and attempted to stand strong against the winds just like a palm tree that is deeply rooted.[9]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
According to Hasan al-Baṣrī, the pulling or plucking in the verse refers to their souls, i.e. the wind pulled out their souls.[10]
Some have suggested that the metaphor in this verse is actually referring to those palm trees that have weakened and dried over time due to natural factors and their roots have withered, such that a slight push is all that is needed to topple them.[11]
Others have suggested that the similarity with palm trees is due to the fact that they had hidden themselves in underground holes for the sake of protection, and thus the wind pulled them out just as a strong wind can pluck a palm tree from its roots.[12]
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.[13]
[1] Ibn Ashur, 27/186.
[2] Daqaiq, 12/541.
[3] Amthal, 17/316.
[4] Amthal, 17/316.
[5] Jawhar, 6/119; Razi, 29/304.
[6] Tabrisi, 9/287; Tibyan, 9/450.
[7] Amthal, 17/316.
[8] Ibn Ashur, 27/187.
[9] Razi, 29/304.
[10] Tibyan, 9/450.
[11] Mudarrisi, 14/231.
[12] Tabrisi, 9/287; Tibyan, 9/450.
[13] Amos, 2:9.