And when He clarified that he is upon the way of those who have passed from the messengers in being a man, He clarified that he is upon their way in all the attributes that He has judged upon humanity regarding life and death. He said: ﴿And We did not make them﴾ meaning the messengers whom We chose to send to the people to command them with Our commands. And when the reason for eating was the arrangement of this animal structure as it is, not because it is numerous, He specified and said: ﴿A body﴾ [meaning a body of flesh and blood-] characterized by the fact that they ﴿do not eat food﴾ but We made them bodies that eat and drink, and that does not prevent their being sent; Ibn Faris said in the Mujmal: [and-] in the book of Al-Khalil: that the body is not said for other than humans from the creation of the earth. Then He added to the first His saying: ﴿And they were not eternal﴾ meaning with their bodies, but they died as the people before them and after them died, meaning that this was not in their nature, but they distinguished themselves from the people by what came to them from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and your messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, is not eternal, so wait as indicated by the conclusion of Ta-Ha, for he is waiting for you while you are disobedient to the King whose reckoning has approached for His creation and he is obedient to Him, so which of you is more deserving of safety? And when He clarified that the messengers, like those sent to them, are men who are not eternal, He clarified His way concerning them and their nations, encouraging those who followed and warning those who refrained. He said, adding with a tool of delay in the manifestation of greatness to what the estimation indicated, such as: but We made them (p-391) bodies that eat and drink, and live until their appointed times expire and they die, and We sent them to their nations so they warned them and admonished them and spoke to them as We commanded them, and We promised them that whoever believes in them We will make happy, and whoever disbelieves and persists We will make miserable, and that We will destroy whoever We will of the deniers. So some believed in them and others disbelieved; so We did not hasten them with punishment but were patient with them, and the trial of Our messengers with them was prolonged.