And when all that has preceded indicates the distancing of the faith of the obstinate from any form of human management, as the stories almost declare, and likewise the indication that their worship is merely for imitation and differing from the people of Musa in his Book, which is guidance and mercy, all of that serves to deter the desire for what may cross the mind of wishing to respond to their proposals or to refrain from some of what provokes from the warning. It is in human nature to be distant from ceasing thoughts except after experience. This may necessitate saying: If they were answered to their request, they might have turned back from much of what they are in, which would lead them to guidance. Thus, it resulted in being said in response: 'So why not.' And it is permissible that its relevance is that when he mentioned the destruction of past generations and previous nations up to the conclusion with the command of patience upon goodness, which is the command of what is right and the prohibition of what is wrong, it was possible for the thought of objection to arise by saying: What is the reason for that? So he clarified that the cause of destruction is turning away from the prohibition of the violator of sacred matters and the audacity to breach the revered veils and to graze in the sanctuary while they are empowered by what He, glorified and exalted is He, has deposited in them of strength and ability to choose the side of good and turn away from the side of evil. So He, the Most High, said: 'So why not' in a form that allows for specification, and in it is a meaning of lamentation and regret for considering all who were in a similar state to theirs, 'of the generations,' meaning the severely destroyed ones that existed at some time.

And when the intention was the generations that were mentioned regarding their destruction, and their times were some of the past time, he brought in the preposition and said: "Before you, those who were" meaning: the companions of "the remnant" meaning: preservation, goodness, and vigilance over what would rectify them. This is because the root of "baqiya" revolves around gathering, and it necessitates strength, stability, and preservation, from their saying: "Keep it with your strength, your wealth" - meaning: preserve it as you preserve your wealth. It also necessitates observation and vigilance: "I remained with the thing" - if you looked at it and watched it, and it necessitates stability: "Baqiya baqan" - if it lasted, and goodness and quality. Al-Zamakhshari said: Because a man preserves from what he brings forth the best and most excellent of it, and it is said: So-and-so is from the remnant of a people, meaning: from their best. The explanation of that will come in detail at His saying, the Exalted: "And We made between them a barrier" [Al-Kahf: 52] if Allah wills. "They prohibit" meaning: they renew the prohibition at every moment, indicating the abundance of the corruptors "from corruption" [that exists] "in the earth". And "if not" here is like that in Yunus, which is reproachful or interrogative as Al-Rummani has permitted, and it may be specific as Al-Zamakhshari said, and it is for the listener, not for the destroyed, because the verse, due to its inclusion of the destruction of the one who acknowledges corruption, was in that a stronger encouragement for others towards command and prohibition, and a more complete threat deterring from committing like their state which leads to the intensification of their punishment. And in the succession of this verse to the verse of patience, there is an indication that patience in commanding what is good and prohibiting what is evil is at the highest peak, and the verse refers to His saying, the Exalted: "Indeed, you are but a warner" [Hud: 12].

And when the three meanings were inclusive of negation, the meaning was: There was no one who would do that, so the exception was connected in His saying: "Except a few" meaning: righteous ones "from whom We saved" and the apparent is that "from" is clarifying, meaning: they are those whom We saved, for they prohibited corruption. And He expressed with "salvation" because it indicates the goodness that carries the prohibition of corruption without the indication of gradualness and conveying in salvation, for if He had expressed with it, the meaning would have been corrupted. "And the majority followed" and they are "those who wronged" meaning: they committed wrongdoing by abandoning the prohibition of corruption. And how well it is to express it without restricting it with: "from them". And when the one who indulged them was the same as the indulgence, it was built for the passive: "They were indulged in it" so the blessing caused them to become arrogant until they transgressed and tyrannized. "And they were criminals" meaning: characterized by a state of permanence in criminality, which is cutting off the bond of Allah continuously. So your Lord destroyed them for their criminality, and if it were not for that, He would not have done so, for their destruction, based on the potential of detaching from criminality, would be injustice based on what they are accustomed to.