And when this matter was astonishing, they were astonished by another astonishment. This is related to 'And they ask you.' If the intended meaning of 'people' in His saying: 'But most people refused' is all of them, and regarding 'But they refused,' if the intended meaning is Quraysh, then He (the Most High) said: 'And they said,' meaning: the disbelievers of Quraysh and those who allied with them, stubbornly, after the evidence was established for them by demonstrating their inability to oppose. And for other reasons, the action of the bewildered, the defeated, and the obstinate, confirming what was established for them from the evidence that placed them among those who certainly believe without hesitation: 'We will not believe,' meaning: we will not affirm what you say, submitting: 'Until you cause to gush forth for us,' meaning: a great gushing; 'from the earth a spring,' meaning: a fountain whose water does not run dry.