Tafsir for verses: 15:4, 15:5
وَمَآ أَهۡلَكۡنَا مِن قَرۡيَةٍ إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابٞ مَّعۡلُومٞ ٤ ﴿4 مَّا تَسۡبِقُ مِنۡ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلَهَا وَمَا يَسۡتَـٔۡخِرُونَ ٥ ﴿5
4We did not destroy any town without having a pre-determined time for it. 5No people can precede their appointed time, nor can they exceed it.
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Commentary

And it has a Book, a complete occurrence, a description of a village. The norm is that the conjunction ‘wa’ (and) should not be placed between them, as in His saying, "And We did not destroy any village except that it had warners." However, it was placed in between to emphasize the attachment of the description to the described. It is said in the context: "Zayd came to me with a garment," and "Zayd came to me, and he had a garment." A known Book is written, known, and it is its appointed time that is written in the Tablet. Do you not see His saying, "No nation precedes its appointed time in the place of its Book," and He mentioned the nation in the feminine form first and then referred to it in the masculine form later, based on the wording and meaning? And He said, "And they do not delay it," by omitting 'from it' because it is known.

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