Meccan, and its verses are 54, and it is said 53 verses [revealed after Ghafir]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

If you consider Ham as the name of the surah, it would be in the position of the subject. And 'Tanzil' is its predicate. If you consider it a listing of the letters, then 'Tanzil' is the news of a deleted subject, and 'Kitab' is a substitute for 'Tanzil.' Or it is a predicate after a predicate. Or the news of a deleted subject. Al-Zajjaj allowed that 'Tanzil' could be the subject, and 'Kitab' its predicate.

The reasoning for this is that 'Tanzil' is specified by the adjective, so it is permissible for it to occur as a subject. Its verses are detailed and made distinct in different meanings: of rulings, parables, admonitions, promises, threats, and others. And it is read: 'Fussilat,' meaning: it distinguished between truth and falsehood. Or it distinguished some from others by the difference in their meanings, from your saying: 'Fasla min al-balad.' A Qur'an in Arabic is in the accusative case for specification and praise, meaning: I intend by this detailed book a Qur'an with the description of such and such. It is said: it is in the accusative case as a state, meaning: its verses are detailed while it is a Qur'an in Arabic for a people who know, meaning for an Arab people who understand what has been revealed to them from the detailed verses clarified in their clear Arabic tongue, so that nothing of it is confused for them.

If you say: to what does the phrase 'for a people who know' relate?

I say: it may relate to 'Tanzil' or to 'Fussilat,' meaning: a revelation from Allah for their sake. Or its verses are detailed for them.

And it is better that it be an adjective like what is before it and after it, meaning: a Qur'an in Arabic existing for an Arab people, so that there is no distinction between the attributes and the qualities. And it is read: 'Bashir' and 'Nadhir,' an attribute of the book. Or it is the news of a deleted subject: 'So they do not hear,' meaning they do not accept or obey, from your saying: 'I interceded to so-and-so, but he did not hear my words.' And indeed he heard it, but since he did not accept it and did not act according to it, it is as if he did not hear it.