"Then they came toward him," meaning: toward Abraham, "hastening [in a crowd]," meaning: they rushed toward him.
Muhammad said: Whoever reads 'yazziffun' with a fathah on the ya and a shaddah on the fa, the meaning is: they are rushing. Its origin is from the 'zafif' (the fast running) of the ostrich. It is said: 'zaffat al-na'amu taziffu zafifan', and there is another dialect for it: 'azaffat zafafan'.
﴿فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ﴾ إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيم ﴿يزفون﴾ أَي يبتدرونه.
قَالَ محمدٌ: من قَرَأَ (يزفون) بِفَتْح الْيَاء وَتَشْديد الْفَاء فَالْمَعْنى: يسرعون وَأَصله من: زَفِيفِ النَّعَام، يُقَال: زفَّت النعامُ تَزِفُّ زفيفًا، وَفِيه لُغَة أُخْرَى: أزفت زفافا.
