"Then We sent Our messengers in succession [tatra]." Qatadah said: meaning, one after another, following one another.
Muhammad [Ibn Abi Zamanin] said: It is derived from [the word] al-tawatur (succession). It is also said that the origin of 'tatra' is 'watra', so the waw was changed into a ta', just as they changed it in [the words] al-tukhma and al-tuklan. "Every time a messenger came to a nation, they denied him, so We made them follow one another [bi'dan]," meaning: the punishment with which We destroyed them, nation after nation, "and We made them legends [ahadith]" for those who came after them.
﴿ثمَّ أرسلنَا رسلنَا تترى﴾ قَالَ قَتَادَةُ: يَعْنِي: تِبَاعًا؛ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَى إِثْرِ بَعْضٍ.
قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ: وَهُوَ مِنَ التَّوَاتُرِ، وَقِيلَ: الْأَصْلُ فِي تَتْرَى: وَتْرَى؛ فَقُلِبَتِ الْوَاوُ تَاءً؛ كَمَا قَلَبُوهَا فِي التُّخْمَةِ وَالتُّكْلَانِ. ﴿كُلَّ مَا جَاءَ أُمَّةً رَسُولُهَا كَذَّبُوهُ فَأَتْبَعْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ بَعْضًا﴾ يَعْنِي: الْعَذَابَ الَّذِي أَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ بِهِ أُمَّةً بَعْدَ أُمَّةٍ ﴿وَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ﴾ لمن بعدهمْ.
