«وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ»
Ask the town.
In context this means to ask the people of the town, since it is people who can answer a factual inquiry. A standard teaching reconstruction is «وَاسْأَلْ أَهْلَ الْقَرْيَةِ», with ahl (أهل) understood. This is part of Qurʾān 12:82.
Everyday knowledge and the grammar of the expression help recover the intended referent. The rhetorical lesson concerns the omitted genitive-related noun, rather than a claim that buildings literally respond to questions.
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Ījāz, Iṭnāb and Musāwāh: Concision, Ellipsis, Expansion and Equivalence
«وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ»
Ask the town.
In context this means to ask the people of the town, since it is people who can answer a factual inquiry. A standard teaching reconstruction is «وَاسْأَلْ أَهْلَ الْقَرْيَةِ», with ahl (أهل) understood. This is part of Qurʾān 12:82.
Everyday knowledge and the grammar of the expression help recover the intended referent. The rhetorical lesson concerns the omitted genitive-related noun, rather than a claim that buildings literally respond to questions.