And when He admonished them, glorified and exalted is He, with truthful news about the people of Noah and those who followed them among the disbelievers, and concluded it with a warning about what will occur in the abode of permanence for the wicked oppressors, He followed it with admonition and fear by observing the remnants of the lands and taking heed from them. He mentioned what they had in it of wondrous signs, from fortresses and palaces and all other buildings, both small and large. He said, reproaching and affirming with an emotional tone regarding what he intended to convey: 'Did they not take admonition from what We informed them of the first oppressors and those who followed them in destruction in this world, which is connected to misery in the Hereafter?' ﴿Did they not travel﴾. And when the earlier ones were of great number, strength, and power, to the extent that none knows it except Allah, and no human can encompass their dwellings, He alerted them by saying: ﴿In the earth﴾, meaning in which land did they travel, and it admonished them with what it contained of signs.

And when travel is a reason for observation, He said: ﴿So let them observe﴾, meaning an observation of reflection, as is the case with the people of insight who claim to be the highest among them. And when the conditions observed are of great strangeness, He alerted them by saying: ﴿How﴾, meaning that they are worthy of being asked about. He also indicated that their attachment to them is of the utmost depth, to the extent that there is no separation from it by saying: ﴿Was the end of﴾, meaning the last of the matter of ﴿Those who were﴾, meaning the inhabitants of the earth who were deeply rooted in its cultivation. And when the one who benefits from the admonition is sufficient with the slightest of it, He indicated that with the preposition by saying: ﴿Before them﴾, meaning before their time ﴿They were﴾. And when the context was for the argument of Quraysh to refute the truth while they heard the news of the earlier ones, they were as if they claimed that they were the strongest of people. Thus, the situation necessitated affirming the news that the earlier ones were stronger than them. So He clarified their matter in what he attributed to them, expressing it with the pronoun of separation by saying: ﴿They﴾, meaning the earlier ones, due to what they had of apparent and hidden powers.

And when the reference of the argument is strength, not number, He said, resuming in response to whoever might say: What was their matter?: ﴿Stronger than them﴾, meaning these - Ibn 'Amir read it as 'from you' with the letter 'kaf' as it is in the mushaf of the people of the Levant, for the purpose of specifying the intended meaning. ﴿In strength﴾, meaning in essence and meanings, and 'and' they have stronger effects in the earth, for their effects have not been obliterated some of them until this time, even though thousands of years have passed over them. As for those who came later, their effects vanish in less than a century.

And when their strength and power became a reason for their admiration and arrogance against the command of their Lord and their opposition to His messengers, that became the reason for their destruction. He said: ﴿So Allah seized them﴾, meaning the One who has the attributes of perfection seized them with dominance, oppression, and force. And since nothing preceded that could be attributed to their seizing, He clarified what they were seized for: ﴿Because of their sins﴾, meaning those which caused them to be seized. And nothing from that which made them arrogant benefited them until they became defiant against their Lord, nor did any intercessor intercede for them ﴿And they had no﴾, meaning from their partners who led them astray like these and others ﴿from Allah﴾, meaning the One who is characterized by all attributes of perfection, or a beginning from the aspect of His greatness and majesty. And He emphasized the negation by adding the preposition, saying: ﴿From a protector﴾, meaning one who would protect them, glorified and exalted is He, not from their partners nor from others. So He knew that those beneath Him do not decide anything. And it is possible that the first 'from' is introductory in its own right, indicating that the seizing is of the utmost severity, for if it does not begin from His aspect, glorified and exalted is He, they have no protection that would remain for them, unlike those whom Allah punished with a punishment of discipline, for indeed His punishment would be a reason for their remaining in what they receive from Him, glorified and exalted is He, of protection.