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Those before them had indeed plotted, [those] such as Nimrod - he built a lofty tower that he might ascend through it to the heavens and wage war against its inhabitants; then Allahu ta’ālā came at, He aimed at, their edifice from the foundations, from the base, unleashing against it winds and earthquake, which demolished it; and so the roof collapsed upon them from above them, that is, while they were beneath it, and the chastisement came upon them whence they were not aware, from a direction which would not have occurred to them: [alternatively] it is said that this [description] is a simile for [demonstrating] the thwarting of that which they had settled on in the way of plots against [Allah’s] messengers (rusul).