And when this speech that they said about him - blessings and peace be upon him and his family - was burdensome and painful for him, Allah, the Exalted, said as a consolation to him, in a way that responds to them: "And certainly We sent." That is, regarding what We have of greatness, majesty, and awe. And since sending is not general for all time, He said: "before you," meaning many of the messengers; "in sects," meaning groups. They were called sects due to their following one another in the circumstances in which they gathered in one time, from a kingdom or a governance or a religion or similar matters that are usually ongoing. "The first ones," all of them. So We did not send except men from the people of the villages, like you, to whom We reveal; and We did not send with any of them angels that their nations could see. Rather, We made the revelation of the angels a matter specific to the messengers. So they denied their messengers.