And when He, glorified and exalted is He, completed the story of the greatest father, the closest one, He followed it - as a sign of the attributes of might and mercy - with the story of the second father, presenting it before others, due to its antiquity in time. This is to inform that the trial is ancient, and because it is more indicative of the attributes of mercy and vengeance, which are the effects of might through the prolongation of their respite over their long duration. Then, the generalization of vengeance while they are all the people of the earth, He said: "They denied" with the affirmation of the 'taa' chosen for the feminine form - although the masculine form of the people is more famous - to indicate that their action is the basest of actions, [or to indicate that they, with their arrogance and multitude, were to Him, glorified and exalted is He, the weakest and most insignificant, such that He made them scattered dust, and likewise those after them]. "The people of Noah" refers to all the inhabitants of the earth from among the humans before the division of nations by the dispersion of languages. "The messengers" means: by denying Noah, peace be upon him, because he established the proof of his prophethood with the miracle. Whoever denies one miracle has indeed denied all miracles due to their equivalence in indicating the truthfulness of the messenger. Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about this, and he said: Whoever denies one of the messengers has denied all, for the latter came with what the former brought, as narrated by al-Baghawi.