And when His command, glorified and exalted is He, advanced to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to turn away from them, as a warning to them, and He made clear what He intended regarding the Hour due to the prior mention of it. This is because it is the most severe terror by which they are threatened. It is also a clarification that creation was not created except for its sake, as it is the place of wisdom. He concluded with its difficulty for the disbelievers. This warning was completed with the punishment of this world as a deterrent for the people of harshness who are preoccupied with the tangible. He mentioned the difficulty of a day that was upon the disbelievers in it. He said, warning Quraysh by making the story an example for them in their destruction and regarding the Hour, in that just as He destroyed the people of the earth all at once with what He sent down of water, He is capable of destroying them all at once with a single cry. Just as He managed this management, which has not been heard of in destruction, He is capable of managing it in revival at the resurrection in a manner in which bodies will grow and servants will live. This is a response to one who might say: This is what they are promised after death. So, is there for them a punishment before it that indicates the completeness of His power? "They denied" means: They inflicted the great denial that they encompassed all the messages and all the messengers with. And He feminized their action as a belittlement of them and a demeaning of their matter in the presence of His power.

And when what was from their insistence upon it and their determination not to detach from it was such that it was a nature encompassing all that came after them from time, and they had established the precedent of denial, so upon them was with their burden the burden of those who came after them. What was before them from time was minimal compared to what came after it, which was non-existent. Therefore, He mentioned the context without a preposition because although it is the truth, it is greater in consolation. He said: "Before them" meaning: in all that has passed from time, and some of it has passed by action and some by the strength of determination: "The people of Noah" with what was with them of strength and their spreading in all regions.

And when He mentioned their denial, it indicated that it was a nature for them that they denied prophethood outright, so they have no share in believing the truth. Their state does not differ regarding anyone from the people, whoever they may be. Therefore, this led to His absolute saying: "So they denied Our servant" meaning: regarding what he has of greatness in relation to us, as he never worshipped anyone other than us, while we honored him with the message. Their denial was a branch of what entered into their absolute denial that encompasses all that can be denied, and it is a realm. "And they said" also with the denial, in addition to covering what appeared of guidance: "A madman" meaning: this which appears to him of the miracles of the jinn.

And when raising one's voice against the Prophet is a great disgrace, exceedingly rude, how about when he is a Messenger? How about when he is one of those of firm resolve? How about when it is in the form of denial against him? How about when it is in the manner of what is done by those who have no regard for him at all? He said, building upon the unknown, indicating his abhorrence without considering the speaker, and signaling that this was not only from their elders but also from their great ones and small ones: ﴿And they were warned﴾ meaning: they acted upon themselves in rebuking him, threatening him, and menacing him. This spread among all of them with the utmost severity to deter him from the message and to prevent him from it. The meaning is that they said: indeed, he has overpowered them with madness.