And when he knew what they believed about his trustworthiness and intellect, and he thought that nothing had driven them to this except their amazement at his being aware of what they had not been aware of - he denied that to them, mentioning what he thought was a reason for them, hinting at the inclination towards disbelief. He said: "Or are you amazed?" meaning: Did you disbelieve and are you amazed "that a reminder has come to you" meaning: honor and reminder "from your Lord" meaning: the One who has never ceased His kindness towards you, sending down "upon a man from among you" meaning: his honor is your honor and his nobility is your nobility, so nothing has escaped you "to warn you" meaning: to caution you about what awaits those who are upon what you are upon of a bad outcome.

And when the implication was: Beware, he added to it reminding them of the blessing, indicating with it the warning of a great punishment in his saying: "And remember when" meaning: at the time "He made you successors" meaning: in what you are in of the earth. And when their time was delayed after them, he came with the conjunction, saying: "after the people of Noah" or it could be that the omitted part is what was necessitated by the inquiry in his saying: "Or are you amazed?" seeking a response, meaning: respond and remember, meaning: do not hasten to respond until you remember what He has blessed you with. In it is an indication of warning against what happened to the people of Noah, or the conjunction could be in the meaning of the interrogative denial in "Will you not fear?" [Al-A'raf: 65] "Or are you amazed?" meaning: Fear and do not be amazed and remember, or the conjunction could be - and this is better - on: "Worship Allah" [Al-A'raf: 65] and His saying: "successors" (p-438) it was said that it implies that they took their place. And it is known that the people of Noah filled the earth, and that 'Aad was only in a small part of it, which is the tree from the direction of Yemen. It was said that this was because Shaddad bin 'Aad ruled all the earth, so it was as if it was said: Your grandfather was made a successor over all the earth. If gratitude had occurred, the blessing would have been completed, so obey Him and He will increase you from His bounty. And it was said that the story of Thamud is similar to this, and there was none among them who ruled the earth nor the land of 'Aad. So it was responded to what was dismissed, which is that 'Aad when they were the strongest people of the earth in bodies and the greatest of them in stature and the most powerful of them in creation and the most famous of them in tribe and mention - the rest of the people were their followers, and likewise Thamud in what they were given of the ability to carve houses from the mountains and similar. And I believe that the inquiry in its essence is not rejected, for there is a significant difference between our saying: So-and-so is the successor of So-and-so, and So-and-so is a successor after So-and-so - the successor in the second has not been mentioned, so it is as if it was said: He made you successors of those who were before you in this earth in which you are, and He specifically mentioned the people of Noah and 'Aad as a reminder of what befell them of punishment. And for this reason, Allah specifically mentioned these nations that were mentioned in the Qur'an, otherwise there were many nations that were numerous beyond measure and greatly widespread in all regions. And it is known (p-439) that Allah, the Exalted, did not leave one of them without a messenger: "And We did not punish until We sent a messenger" [Al-Isra: 15].

And in the story of Hud in Surah Al-Ahqaf, "And the warnings have already passed before him and behind him" [Al-Ahqaf: 21]. There is another secret, which is that these nations had many of their news among the Arabs. Their conditions were detailed for them, while those whom they had no awareness of were omitted, so they were mentioned only in general to prevent them from hastening to deny what was revealed about them without any witnessing evidence established against them.

And when He reminded them of the absolute preservation after that general flood, He followed the reminder with an increase, saying: "And He increased you"; that is, over those before you or over those who are present on the earth in your time, "in creation"; that is, specific to you, "in abundance"; that is, in the sense of the length of bodies and in meaning by the strength of limbs. It was said that the height of each one of them was twelve cubits, and it was said that it was more.

And when the blessing became great, He repeated the reminder to them, saying, causing it to be said: "So remember the favors of Allah"; that is, the blessings of the One who possesses the attributes of greatness which He has bestowed upon you, such as succession, strength, and others. And remember that there is no blessing with you except for Him at all, so He has become deserving of being singled out for worship, "that perhaps you may succeed"; that is, so that your state may be like that of one whose success is hoped for, which is his attainment of all his desires; for indeed, remembrance necessitates gratitude, which necessitates increase.