So he said, meaning that as a result of that they denied him. He said: "The elite," meaning the nobles whose vision is filled with greatness. When the people of faith were all at that time one tribe due to their unity in one language, he preceded his saying: "Those who disbelieved," meaning in Allah, because the consolation by stating the denial is more complete. The connection here is brief, and there is no confusion or weakness in the structure, unlike what follows. It is as if their thighs were distinct, so he increased the disgrace upon them by indicating that they were among the closest people to him by saying: "From his people, what is this?" Meaning Noah, blessings and peace be upon him. "Except a human like you," meaning he does not know what you do not know. They denied that some humans could be a prophet, but they did not deny that some clay is a human, and some water is a leech, and some leeches are a morsel - until the end of it. It is as if it was said: So what led him to that? They said: "He wants to excel," meaning he is trying to claim superiority by asserting such a thing "over you," so that you would be his followers, and there is no special status for him in this over you.

When the implication was: So Allah did not send him as he claimed, they added to their saying: "And if Allah had willed," meaning the Most High King, to send to you and not to worship others, "He would have sent down," for that reason, "angels." And they did not know that the One who is capable of preferring some jewels by making them angels is capable of preferring whatever He wills and whoever He wills by whatever He wills from angels and others.

When this included the denial of the prophethood of humans, they explicitly stated it in their saying, falsely and slanderously, as Pharaoh and his people denied when they said similar words and their denial of the believer in the prophethood of Yusuf, blessings and peace be upon him: "We have not heard of this," meaning the sending of a prophet from humans who prevents the worship of others than Allah with the intention of drawing closer to Him. They made the deity a stone and rejected the possibility of the prophet being human "in our forefathers of old," and we have not heard of what he called to regarding monotheism.