«وَالْحَذْفُ عَلَى وَجْهَيْنِ»
Ellipsis occurs in two modes.
ModeExplanation
Without substituteNothing explicitly takes the omitted element's place; context alone suffices
With substituteA cause or implication of the unstated response appears in its place
﴿وَإِنْ يُكَذِّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كُذِّبَ رُسُلٌ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ﴾
If they reject you, messengers before you were also rejected. (Fāṭir 35:4)
In the rhetorical analysis given here, fa-qad kudhdhiba expresses the reason for the implied answer and takes its place. The intended reassurance may be expressed as fa-lā taḥzan wa-ṣbir, “do not grieve; be patient,” since earlier rejection is evidence for consolation, not an event caused by a future rejection.
A crucial safeguard is to distinguish a semantic implication from a literally omitted component.