"Then the cry seized them," meaning: the punishment, according to the tafsir of al-Hasan. "And we made them as refuse (ghutha')," meaning: like vegetation when it crumbles after having been green.

Muhammad said: Al-ghutha' in the language means that which surfaces on a flood, such as tree leaves.

The meaning is: We made them perish like refuse, because refuse scatters and departs.