وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ
“Ask the town.”
Wording: al-qaryah means the town and functions as the apparent object of the verb “ask.”
Implied expression: context indicates asking its inhabitants; “people of the town” explains the intended sense.
Rhetoric: referring to people by their locality contributes compression and cohesion.
These layers must not be collapsed. “Ask its people” gives the intended meaning but does not display the original verbal construction. A sound explanation preserves the actual words, shows the contextual implication, and then accounts for the rhetorical effect without inventing words in the verse.