That is a sign of what Allah has narrated of the stories of the doomed nations due to their sins, as a sign for whoever fears, for it serves as a lesson for him. He looks at what Allah has inflicted upon the criminals in this world, and it is but a model of what has been prepared for them in the Hereafter. When he sees its greatness and severity, he reflects on the magnitude of the promised punishment, and it becomes a lesson and admonition for him, as well as a kindness in increasing his piety and fear of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. And similarly, indeed in that is a lesson for whoever fears. That is a reference to the Day of Resurrection, for the punishment of the Hereafter indicates it. And the people are raised by the name of the object of the action. [Mahamud said: 'If you say, why did he shift from the action to the name of the object of the action... etc.' Ahmad said: 'For this reason, the saying of Allah, indeed, We have made the mountains with him glorifying at evening and sunrise, and the birds gathered, is used where the action is appropriate, and the name of the object of the action where it is also suitable... etc.'] which is a collective term as it is raised by its action if you say, 'the people are gathered for him.' If you say: What is the benefit of preferring the name of the object of the action over its action? [His saying 'of indication' is the wording of Al-Nasafi: its indication. (A)] I say: Because the name of the object of the action indicates the permanence of the meaning of gathering for the day, and that it is a day that must be a fixed appointment for gathering the people to it, and that it is described by that as an essential attribute. It is also more solid for attributing the gathering to the people, and that they will not be separated from it. An example of this is the saying of the one who threatens: 'Indeed, you are robbed of your wealth and your people are harmed,' in it is the establishment of the description and its permanence which is not in the action. If you wish, compare it to his saying: 'The day He will gather you for the Day of Gathering,' and you will find the correctness of what I have said to you. And the meaning of 'they are gathered for him' is that they are gathered for what involves reckoning, reward, and punishment, on a day that is witnessed, in which it is witnessed. So it expands in the context [Mahamud said: 'What is meant is witnessed in which it expands in the context... etc.' Ahmad said: 'The witnessed which is the object of the action is made ambiguous, and from ambiguity can come grandeur, and this is its place.'] by treating it like the object of the action, like his saying: 'And a day we witnessed with Sulaiman and Amir.' [This witness has been explained in this part on page 408, refer to it if you wish, the corrector.] Meaning, in it the creatures witness the standing, and no one is absent from it. And what is meant by 'the witnessed' is that which is witnessed by many. And from it is their saying: 'For so-and-so is a witnessed assembly, and a present food.' He said: 'In a gathering from the corners of the people that is witnessed.' [From the opponents, if he limited the noise with them... after Ibn Sa'd and from the thinness the ropes. And a scene that you have made sufficient for the absent by it... in a gathering from the corners of the people that is witnessed. I have relieved it with a tongue that is not entangled... in the presence of the guardians and a heart that is not troubled. To Umm Qais the gazelle. And it cried out loudly and noisily: it shouted. And the camel cried out from the burden: it was tired from its weight, and the thinness with emphasis: the plural of thin. And a long-necked horse. And a man who is long-necked: he approaches with his face and does not bend. And the monkey: its plural. And a scene: it is an addition to the opponents. And it is permissible to be governed by 'with,' meaning an assembly that you have made sufficient for the absent from it by speaking about them among a gathering of the heads of the people and their nobles, so the corners are a metaphor for them. And I have relieved it, I have untangled its distress, and I have uncovered its gloom with clear speech that comes from a heart at peace, not afraid in the presence of the guardians, meaning the jealousy of the opponents and each of them preserving their opinion or being angry. And it is said: 'I preserved him with preservation if I angered him.'] If you say: What prevented you from making the day witnessed in itself without making it witnessed in it, as Allah, the Exalted, said: 'So whoever witnesses the month, let him fast it?' I say: The purpose is to describe that day with horror and greatness and to distinguish it from among the days, for if you made it witnessed in itself, then all other days are also witnessed. But it is made witnessed in it so that distinction is achieved, just as Friday is distinguished from the days of the week by being witnessed in it, while it is not permissible for it to be witnessed in itself, because all the other days of the week are like it, witnessed by everyone who witnesses it.

So whoever among you witnesses the month, let him fast it. The month is in the accusative case as an adverbial phrase, not as a direct object. Likewise, the pronoun in 'let him fast it' refers to the month. The meaning is: whoever among you is present in the month, let him fast in it. This means: whoever among you is residing and present in his homeland during the month of Ramadan, let him fast in it. Even if it were to be taken as a direct object, both the traveler and the resident witness the month; the resident witnesses it, while the traveler is absent from it.