And when the decree was: 'If you believe, then it is your share in this world and the Hereafter,' he added to it his saying: 'And if you disbelieve.' The conjunction 'and' indicates this omitted part, which is connected to something not previously mentioned. 'Indeed,' meaning: 'It is enough for you in the admonition and warning that you know that many nations have denied before you, such as 'Aad, Thamud, the people of Noah, and others.' The matter occurred among them according to a single pattern, which has never differed in the salvation of the obedient to the Messenger and the destruction of the disobedient to him. And that did not harm the Messenger at all; they harmed only themselves. 'And it is not upon the Messenger to compel you to believe, but upon him is only the clear conveyance,' which clarifies the matter to the extent that there remains no doubt in it, by manifesting the miracle and establishing the evidence for the Oneness.