What is the speech act in alam yajʿal kaydahum fī taḍlīl?

Supplementary Practice 20: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Humazah and al-Fīl

• A literal request to know whether the plot succeeded
• A rhetorical question eliciting acknowledgment of the scheme’s failure
• Treating the question as supplication
• Explaining an unrelated cause rather than the plot’s failure