A sound method for interpreting ellipsis proceeds as follows:
1. Read the exact Qur’anic expression with its surrounding passage.
2. Determine what relationship ordinary Arabic and the context already make intelligible.
3. Identify whether the understood element is a noun, quality, complement, reported speech, pronoun referent or conditional answer.
4. Treat any supplied wording as explanation, not as an addition to the recited Qur’an.
5. Avoid forced reconstructions where the idiom is already clear.
“Ask the town” implies its people; “absorbed the calf into their hearts” conveys affection for the calf; “if only you could see” leaves an unstated consequence. These are different levels of implication.
Their shared lesson is that brevity and completeness of meaning are compatible. The following level turns to substitution, ibdāl.