فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍ
Then He left them like chewed straw. (الفيل: 5)
The faʾ in fa-jaʿalahum leads from the preceding action to the resulting condition. These are not unrelated events: the destructive act is followed by the depiction of defeat.
The simile explains the resulting state. Faʾ is appropriate to consequence or close progression, but it should not be forced into a claim about a mathematically measurable time interval in every occurrence.
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Supplementary Practice 20: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Humazah and al-Fīl
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَأْكُولٍ
Then He left them like chewed straw. (الفيل: 5)
The faʾ in fa-jaʿalahum leads from the preceding action to the resulting condition. These are not unrelated events: the destructive act is followed by the depiction of defeat.
The simile explains the resulting state. Faʾ is appropriate to consequence or close progression, but it should not be forced into a claim about a mathematically measurable time interval in every occurrence.