And when the intention of this arrogance was the obliteration of the truth; and the concealment of its matter; without a declaration of obstinacy - rather with the establishment of a semblance that might sometimes be accepted - even if its weakness was severe - upon minds that are weaker than it; and as if this is the reality of deceit; which is covering and hiding; as He clarified in 'Ar-Ra'd'; at His saying (the Most High): ﴿Rather, the plot of those who disbelieved was made to appear attractive to them﴾ [Ar-Ra'd: 33]; He began to threaten the schemers; and warned them of the occurrence of what happened to those who were more numerous than them; and stronger in power; and He gives hope to the believers in their victory over them; by what He has of immense power; and great might; so He said (the Most High): ﴿Certainly, those who plotted﴾; and when the intended audience of the news were specific people who did not encompass the time of the past; He included the preposition; so He said (the Most High): ﴿Before them﴾; from those who saw their traces; and entered their dwellings; ﴿So Allah came﴾; meaning: with what He has of the totality of greatness; ﴿Their buildings﴾; meaning: the coming of punishment and vengeance; ﴿From the foundations﴾; which they built their deceit upon; ﴿And it fell﴾; meaning: it collapsed with a great sound due to its destruction; ﴿The roof fell upon them﴾; and when the Arabs say: 'A roof fell upon us; and a wall fell upon us' - if he owns it; and even if it did not fall upon him; as Abu Hayyan transmitted from Ibn Al-A'rabi; He said (the Most High) - shifting from this to the reality of the fall constrained by the preposition -: ﴿From above them﴾; and they were beneath it; so they perished; as is the case with buildings when their foundations are removed.

And when the deceit is harm in secrecy; because it is killing by means of a hidden way; He clarified that what happened to them from punishment is from the consequences of what they did; by His saying: ﴿And the punishment came to them﴾; meaning: that which the words of the messengers agreed upon in warning for whoever refused; ﴿From where they do not perceive﴾; because the cause they prepared for their victory was in fact the very cause of their defeat; and this is by way of illustration; and it was said: that it is in reality regarding what Nimrod built from the tower.

Mention of his story from the Torah:

He said in the first travel of it; regarding the descendants of Noah - blessings be upon him -: And Cush - meaning the son of Ham, son of Noah - fathered Nimrod; and he was the first tyrant on earth; and he was feared; a hunter before the Lord; and for this reason it is said: "This is like Nimrod, the tyrant, the hunter"; so the beginning of his kingdom was Babel; and Cush; and Ahwaz; and Kufa; which is in the land of Shin'ar; and from that land came the Mosuli; and he built Nineveh; and Rahubot the village - and in one version: the village of Rahuba - and Eila; and the cities; then he said - after counting the descendants of Noah - blessings be upon him -; and their kingdoms -: These are the tribes of the children of Noah; and their offspring; and their descendants; and from these the peoples were scattered on earth after the flood; and indeed the people of the earth all had one language; and their speech was one; so when they journeyed eastward, they ended up in a plain in the land of Shin'ar - and in one version: Iraq - and they settled there; so each person among them said to his companion: Come, let us make bricks and burn them with fire; so the bricks become like stones; and the mortar becomes instead of clay for the plaster; then he said: Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens; and let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over all the earth; then the Lord looked at the city and the tower which the people were building; and the Lord said: Indeed, I see this people, their thoughts are one; and their language is one; (p-141) and they have intended to do this deed; so they are now not negligent in what they intended to do; so let me bring forth a command that will scatter their language; so that no one will understand the language of his companion; then the Lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth; and they did not build the city which they intended to build; and for this reason it was called Babel; because there the Lord scattered the language of the people of the earth entirely; it has ended.

Some of the Jewish scholars said to me: Indeed, "Babel" is the Arabicized form of "Bubal"; and the meaning of "Bubal" in Hebrew is: dispersion; this is what is in the Torah; and as for the interpreters, they mentioned that the tower was built in a tall and sturdy manner; and that Allah - glorified and exalted is He - destroyed it; and it had a tremor; the language of the people of the earth was scattered into many regions due to its great horror; only its Creator can count them; and Allah knows best.