And when that abode became a place of anger, this caused him to migrate from it, as was the custom of those before him from the prophets, peace be upon them. He said: ﴿So he turned away from them﴾ after the descent of the punishment and before it, upon seeing its signs, going to another place, to worship his Lord therein.

﴿And he said﴾, expressing regret for what he missed of their guidance,

﴿O my people﴾, meaning: O my tribe and those closest to me,

﴿I have conveyed to you﴾, and perhaps he gathered for the sake of the abundance of what he brought them of miracles, and he said: ﴿the messages of my Lord﴾, meaning: the One who has bestowed favor upon me by saving me and those who followed me from your punishment, for His guidance to us towards what pleases Him.

﴿And I advised﴾, meaning: I provided sincere counsel to you,

﴿especially﴾.

And when this was indicative of what is inherent in humans of regret for their family and tribe, it caused him to express disbelief against himself by saying: ﴿So how can I grieve﴾, meaning: I grieve with great sorrow,

﴿for a people who are disbelievers﴾, meaning: deeply entrenched in disbelief. He recognized that he grieved for them due to their proximity and the loss of faith for them, not grieving for them because of their disbelief. The specific repetition of these five stories in this order in many chapters of the Qur'an, except for the story of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, who is the greatest of them, is due to their coherence in that their eyes were comforted when they saw the fates of those who opposed them. As for Ibrahim, peace be upon him, the text indicates in his saying: ﴿Indeed, I am going to my Lord; He will guide me﴾ [As-Saffat: 99] that he left his people before their punishment and did not follow their path in acknowledging the destruction of those who denied him in his presence, and he is the best of them; for the event in his story is greater in excellence, and it is in accordance with what has been decreed for his son, the best of humanity, our Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And look at His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And Allah would not punish them while you were among them﴾ [Al-Anfal: 33], you will know what is in this position of honor, and that the matter is as it is said: For one eye, a thousand eyes are rewarded and honored.

And when He, glorified is He, summarized the warning of what the nations have shared in destruction by His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And how many a town have We destroyed﴾ [Al-A'raf: 4], the verse.