وَسَكَنتُمْ فِى مَسَٰكِنِ ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمْ كَيْفَ فَعَلْنَا بِهِمْ وَضَرَبْنَا لَكُمُ ٱلْأَمْثَالَ · وَقَدْ مَكَرُوا۟ مَكْرَهُمْ وَعِندَ ٱللَّهِ مَكْرُهُمْ وَإِن كَانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ ٱلْجِبَالُ
Wa sakantum fī masākini'lladhīna ẓalamū anfusahum wa tabayyana lakum kayfa faʿalnā bihim wa ḍarabnā lakumu'l-amthāl · Wa qad makarū makrahum wa ʿinda'llāhi makruhum wa in kāna makruhum li-tazūla minhu'l-jibāl
"You dwelt in the dwellings of those who wronged themselves; it became clear to you what We did with them, and We struck parables for you. · They schemed their scheme; but their scheme is with God — even were their scheme such as to move mountains from their places."
The verse sets out three pieces of evidence against the one addressed, and all three are given in the past tense:
| Evidence | Verb | What |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sakantum | You dwelt — you lived in their dwellings |
| 2 | Tabayyana lakum | It became clear — you saw what happened |
| 3 | Ḍarabnā lakumu'l-amthāl | Parables were struck — it was recounted |
I record this as an observation about the word order: the evidence is ordered from the lived to the recounted. First place, then seeing, then speech. That is, the verse enumerates every channel of knowledge the hearer has to hand.
And the third item names the very work the sūra itself is doing: al-amthāl — the parables. The sūra had given two parables in the twenty-fourth verse; in the forty-fifth it counts this as an item of evidence.
The root س-ك-ن occurs three times in the sūra: la-nuskinannakum (14 — the promise of settling), askantu min dhurriyyatī (37 — Abraham's settling), sakantum fī masākin (45 — the addressee's dwelling). Three occurrences, three different parties. This is a weave within the sūra that can be verified.
The root م-ك-ر: a hidden measure, an order laid without being noticed. The root was treated at Fāṭir 35/10 and 35/43 (wa lā yaḥīqu'l-makru's-sayyiʾu illā bi-ahlih). I rely on that treatment.
The word occurs three times in the forty-sixth verse: makarū makrahum wa ʿinda'llāhi makruhum wa in kāna makruhum.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the repetition builds an effect of accumulation. And at the second occurrence the sentence states a place: ʿinda'llāh — "with God." The scheme is not denied; its address is given.
| Reading | Vocalisation | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Li-tazūlaa (accusative) — in as a negative | Their scheme was not such as to move mountains from their places |
| 2 | Li-tazūlu (indicative) — in as the lightened form | Their scheme was such as to move mountains from their places |
The difference of sense the two readings give must be recorded: the first diminishes the scheme, the second magnifies it. And on either reading the verdict of the sentence does not change, because the verdict had been given in the preceding sentence: wa ʿinda'llāhi makruhum.