And when the listener longed for their response after this encouragement mixed with intimidation, he was answered by saying: ﴿The chiefs said﴾ meaning: the nobles who fill the eyes with delight and the hearts with awe. And since 'Aad was few in comparison to the people of Noah - peace be upon him - and among their nobles there were those who had wealth in general, it was restricted by saying: ﴿Those who disbelieved﴾ meaning: they concealed what is due to the truth to appear from the proofs of Oneness. And they were described as a consolation for this noble Prophet regarding what he sees of the harshness of his people, by saying: ﴿From his people﴾. And they confirmed what they faced from harshness; because they know that his state in his knowledge and judgment contradicts them by their saying: ﴿Indeed, we see you﴾ meaning: we know you with certain knowledge (p-435) as if it were tangible ﴿in foolishness﴾ meaning: characterized by light-mindedness. So it surrounds you from all sides, there is no escape for you from it. Therefore, it led you to a saying that has no truth to it. The tanween is for magnification. If it is said: rather for belittlement, it is as if they hesitated in describing him with that just as they hesitated in asserting the lie, so they said: ﴿And indeed, we think you are among the liars﴾ meaning: those who deliberately lie. And that is because they had knowledge of the messengers and what comes to oppose them from punishment from the story of Noah - peace be upon him - and the covenant was not far off. As for the people of Noah, they asserted the misguidance and confirmed it by being clear; because they had no awareness of the conditions of the messengers and the punishment of the nations before that. For this reason, they said: ﴿We have not heard of this in our forefathers﴾ [Al-Mu'minun: 24]. It was said: this is not the case, for it has been reported in the response of the people of Noah in Surah Hud similar to this, and it is his saying: ﴿Rather, we think you are liars﴾ [Hud: 27]. If it is said: this was only in the second instance after he presented to them the proofs and established the arguments on the validity of his claim and the desires of the souls stirred with debate, it is unlikely that his people answered him with that at the very first call. It was said: and the matter is the same in the story of Hud - peace be upon him - for he was not told that except by the disbelievers from his people. So their restriction by description indicates that there were among them those who followed him. Rather, even his followers were among their nobles, they were by assumption. And the expression in the lie is intended to indicate that it suffices in (p-436) describing him with the foolishness they claimed by his undertaking of what is compatible with their suspicion of his lying, or his saying of what is not true - in their claim - is oscillating between whether he said it deliberately or was led to it by what they accused him of foolishness without contemplation.