And when these seven nations were the majority of the people of the earth, indeed, there was a nation among them that was the people of the earth, as has been explained in Al-A'raf. So how about those who were other than them from those who were in their times and after them? And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informed that His custom with them was to give them respite and then to destroy them. This was caused by the overwhelming news about them and their multitude. So He, exalted is He, said, explaining the taking and the respite in a confused manner: 'How many a city have We destroyed,' like these mentioned and others. And in the reading of the congregation, other than Abu Amr, with the noon, it is an expression of greatness: 'and it is,' meaning, while it is 'a wrongdoer, so it is' that the cause of its destruction was that it was 'empty,' meaning, it was ruined and fallen, meaning, its walls 'upon their roofs,' meaning, its ceilings, due to the wood breaking down and not from the abundance of rain, and other secrets. So it fell, then the walls fell upon it. Or the meaning is: empty, its souls have departed with the departure of its inhabitants, while its ceilings remain. It does not need anyone other than the inhabitants. And how many 'a well that is abandoned' from its people while its building remains, and its water is bubbling. 'And a lofty, well-built palace,' meaning, high, well-constructed, plastered, because it is not built—meaning, plastered—except that which is intended to be raised. So the palaces have been abandoned by their owners, and they have become desolate, lonely from all their companions, after the multitude of gatherings in their assemblies, and the wells have been abandoned from their visitors after the crowding between their coming and going, near and far, present and absent. And when the destruction of the built structure weakens its foundations and creates from its walls, it was not appropriate to emphasize the description of the palace, as it was appropriate in the description of the well.