LessonsSupplementary Practice 20: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Humazah and al-FīlQuiz

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ
Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the people of the elephant? (الفيل: 1)

Alam combines interrogation and negation, but its purpose here is not to request unknown information. It directs the audience to acknowledge or recall a known divine action. Tarā may convey knowing or considering; the wording does not require the immediate listener to have witnessed the event with the eyes.

Kayfa faʿala directs attention to how the action unfolded and what it accomplished. A second rhetorical question follows, maintaining the movement from recalled event to its decisive outcome.

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Rhetorical acknowledgment in al-Fīl

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

أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِأَصْحَابِ الْفِيلِ
Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the people of the elephant? (الفيل: 1)

Alam combines interrogation and negation, but its purpose here is not to request unknown information. It directs the audience to acknowledge or recall a known divine action. Tarā may convey knowing or considering; the wording does not require the immediate listener to have witnessed the event with the eyes.

Kayfa faʿala directs attention to how the action unfolded and what it accomplished. A second rhetorical question follows, maintaining the movement from recalled event to its decisive outcome.