فَزَعَمَ أَنَّ صِنَاعَتَهُ قَدْ رُمِيَتْ بِالْكَسَادِ لِمَا ظَهَرَ فِي الْأَرْضِ مِنَ الْفَسَادِ
He claimed that his trade had fallen into a slump because corruption had spread through the land.
The wife introduces her husband’s explanation with fa-zaʿama. That reports what he alleged; it does not certify that the alleged cause of commercial decline was true. The rhyme al-kasād / al-fasād strengthens the excuse’s form but not its evidentiary basis.
Each proposition in the dialogue has a speaker and a status. Replacing “he claimed” with “it happened” collapses allegation, defence, and finding into one undifferentiated statement.
Practice: Is “corruption certainly caused the slump” a faithful summary? No; it is a reported explanation.