Commentary
And when the appointment of the warner from among them is not a place for amazement, they counted it as amazing due to what appeared from their division of the saying about him. They were amazed by his saying: ﴿And they were amazed that﴾; meaning: for the sake of that; ﴿a warner came to them﴾. And since their amazement was from the absolute nature of his warning, not its exaggeration, he came with the name of the doer without 'fa'il'; so he said: ﴿a warner from them﴾; meaning: from humanity; then from the Arabs; then from Quraysh; and he was not from the angels, for example. It was appropriate for them not to be amazed by that; for the fact that the warner is with what befalls the warned people of calamities - while being more honorable for them - is more effective in warning; because they are more familiar with him; and with what is included in it of truthfulness; and compassion; and other than that. This is what has been customary in the past and present; for they are more inclined towards him; thus they are more receptive to his words.
And when they were the most knowledgeable of people about this warner ﷺ in that he is the most truthful in speech; and the highest in resolve; and that he is free from every deficiency and blemish; he increased in amazement by saying - expressing with 'wa' without 'fa' - because their description of him as a magician is not similar to this amazement -: ﴿And they said﴾. And when they were concealing the truth while knowing it; they are deniers, not ignorant; and opposers, not heedless; he revealed the place of the implicit; (p-328) indicating that; and signaling to his severe anger; in his saying: ﴿The disbelievers said this﴾; meaning: the warner.
And when what he shows of miracles is an actual miracle; in action; and in words; that attracts hearts; and the closest thing they could accuse him of is magic; they threw that at him; and they did not express it in a form of exaggeration; so that it would not be an attractive clarification for hearts towards him; so they said: ﴿A magician﴾; meaning: because he separates by what he brought between a man and his wife. They acknowledged - while attributing him to magic; and they know that they are lying in that - that what he brought is above what they have of powers; ﴿A liar﴾; meaning: in his claim that what he bewitched with is true; it is not like the magic of the magicians. And they came with audacity in a form of exaggeration; while they had previously called him the trustworthy; and they know that nothing has been renewed for him except that he came with the truest truth; and the most rightful of rights; while he is advancing in the ranks of perfection without any concealment from anyone who has the slightest reflection.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Sad verse 4