And when He clarified their turning away, He clarified its cause for them and said: ﴿And what prevented﴾. And when the people were followers of Quraysh, He said: ﴿the people﴾, meaning those who argued with falsehood, the faith - this was the original, but He expressed this second action by saying, as He, the Most High, said: ﴿to believe﴾ to indicate renewal and condemned them for their abandonment ﴿when﴾, meaning at the time ﴿guidance came to them﴾ with the Book upon the tongue of the Messenger, and He added to the second action - expressing in a manner similar to what has passed - His saying, the Most High: ﴿and seek forgiveness from their Lord﴾, meaning the One who is gracious to them.

And when the exception was clarified, He brought the subject and said, the Most High: ﴿except that﴾, meaning the request that ﴿the tradition of the former ones should come to them﴾ in their response to what they proposed to their Messengers, which necessitates the eradication of whoever persists in misguidance. Among that is their request that the Prophet be an angel, and that is a punishment in the form of a blessing and bringing about punishment secretly, meaning hidden ﴿or﴾ their request that ﴿punishment should come to them openly﴾, meaning facing them and witnessing it without any concealment. This is in the reading of those who broke the qaf and opened the ba, clear from their saying: I met so-and-so openly, meaning in sight. Likewise, in the reading of those who joined them, from their saying: I will come to you openly, not secretly, meaning facing you from the direction of your face, not from the direction of your back. He, the Most High, said: ﴿If his shirt was torn from the front﴾ [Yusuf: 26]. It is valid that this reading refers to the group, because what is meant by the punishment [is the kind] - meaning it will come to them in various types, classified one by one and kind by kind, and it has been explained in Al-An'am. And this section is the opposite of the coming of the tradition of the former ones, so its meaning is: without them being answered to what they proposed as has been mentioned in the one before it ﴿But most of the people refused except for disbelief﴾ [Al-Isra: 89] ﴿And they said: We will never believe you﴾ [Al-Isra: 90] - up to His saying, the Most High: ﴿Or you cause the heaven to fall upon us in pieces, as you claimed against us﴾ [Al-Isra: 92]. This verse is from the interlocking: mentioning ﴿the tradition of the former ones﴾ first indicates its opposite secondly, and mentioning the revelation secondly indicates the concealment first.