And when they confronted with this saying without any evidence from knowledge or news from hearing, this was made clear, marveling at their affair, clarifying their stubbornness, with His saying confirming an indication that what they dare to say of words that have no support except imitation can only be from a book or a messenger: "And they said that while we have not given them" meaning these Arabs originally because no book has ever been revealed to them before the Qur'an. He expressed it with a manifestation of greatness indicating that this is a place of danger and a very difficult situation because it is the foundation of religion, so nothing is sufficient in it except for a great matter. He confirmed this meaning with His saying: "from books" in the plural form with a confirmation of negation by the preposition [before Your comprehensive book] "they study it" meaning they renew its study at all times. It is manifestly indicative by their gathering on one meaning that is transmitted among them without any doubt in its matter so that this becomes a reason for attacking the Qur'an if it contradicts those books. "And We did not send" [Saba: 34] meaning a sending without any doubt in its suitability to what we have of greatness "to them" [specifically, meaning that this messenger is commanded concerning them by their very identities, they are specifically intended, not that they are included in a generality, or intended from the aspect of enjoining good in all times] "before you" meaning [from before your comprehensive message for every message so that Ibrahim and Ismail, peace be upon them, may emerge, for they were in some of the past times, or that what is meant] is in the period after Isa, peace be upon him, as was previously transmitted in As-Sajda from Ibn Abbas and Muqatil. It may be intended after Ismail, peace be upon him, because Isa, peace be upon him - although he sent his messengers to the Arabs - was not sent [except] to his people, and his sending to others was merely from the aspect of enjoining good. And Shu'ayb, peace be upon him, was only sent to a group or two of them. And [it may be said]: what is indicated by the exhaustive mention of all past times, stripped of the diminutive, is that what is meant is the negation of sending with this falsehood that they claimed, not the absolute sending. And He confirmed the negation with His saying: "from a warner" meaning so that they would have a saying from him that would tarnish the face of the Qur'an, thus leading them to attack.