ٱلْأَعْرَاف : ٤

  • وَكَم And how many
  • مِّن of
  • قَرۡيَةٍ a city
  • أَهۡلَكۡنَٰهَا We destroyed it
  • فَجَآءَهَا and came to it
  • بَأۡسُنَا Our punishment
  • بَيَٰتًا (at) night
  • أَوۡ or
  • هُمۡ (while) they
  • قَآئِلُونَ were sleeping at noon
And how many cities have We destroyed, and Our punishment came to them at night or while they were sleeping at noon.
How many (kam is predicative and is the direct object [of the main verb, ahlaknaahaa, 'We have destroyed']) a city, meaning its inhabitants, have We destroyed, have We willed its destruction! So Our might, Our chastisement, came upon it at night or while they slept at noon (qaa'iloon: al-qayloola is a rest taken halfway during the day, even if it does not involve sleep), in other words, sometimes it came upon it at night, and sometimes it came during the day.