Regarding His saying: "And those cities, We destroyed them when they committed wrong," meaning: when they associated partners with God and rejected His messengers. "And We appointed for their destruction," meaning: for their punishment, "a fixed time," meaning: a limit and a specific time.

Muhammad said: Whoever read it as 'li-muhlikihim' with a damma on the mim and a fatha on the lam, it is the verbal noun (masdar) of 'ahlakahu', meaning to cause someone to perish (ihlak) or a time of destruction (mahlak). And whoever read it as 'li-mahlikihim' with a fatha on the mim and the lam, he intended the meaning 'halaku mahlakan' (they perished a perishing).