His saying, the Exalted and Majestic:

"Then We sent after him messengers to their people. They came to them with clear signs, but they were not to believe in what they had denied before. Thus We seal the hearts of the transgressors." "Then We sent after them Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his chiefs with Our signs, but they were arrogant and were a criminal people."

The pronoun in His saying: "after him" refers back to Noah, peace be upon him. The pronoun in "their people" refers back to the messengers. The meaning of all these verses is a parable for the contemporaries of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. That is: just as it happened to these, it will happen to you. And the clear signs are the miracles and the evident proofs. The pronoun in His saying: "they were" and in "to believe" refers back to the people of the messengers. The pronoun in "they were" refers back to the people of Noah, peace be upon him. This is the saying of some of the interpreters. Some of them said: rather, all three refer back to the people of the messengers, meaning that they hastened to deny their messengers whenever a messenger came, then they persisted in disbelief and continued, so they would not believe in what their previous denial had been about. And Yahya ibn Salam said: "before" means: before the punishment.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And in this saying, there is distance, and the wording can have another meaning, which is that "what" is a source, and the meaning is: they denied their messengers, so their punishment from Allah was that they would not believe in their denial before, meaning because of it and due to its recompense. This interpretation is supported by His saying: "Thus We seal." And some scholars said: the punishment of denial is sealing the hearts. The majority of people read: "We seal" with the letter 'n', and Abbas ibn al-Fadl read: "He seals" with the letter 'y'. And His saying: "Thus" means: this is Our action towards these, then He began: "Thus We seal" meaning like Our action towards this. And "the transgressors" are those who have exceeded their limits and committed what is not permissible for them, and here it refers to disbelief.

The pronoun in "after them" refers back to the messengers, and the pronoun in "and his chiefs" refers back to Pharaoh. The chiefs are the group from a tribe and the people of a city. Then it is said for the nobles and the notables of the tribe or the city: they are the chiefs, meaning they take the place of the assembly. And in this context, it is in the saying of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding Quraysh at Badr: "Those are the chiefs." And likewise, it is in His saying, the Exalted: "Indeed, the chiefs conspire against you." And as for this verse, it is general because the mission of Moses and Aaron was to Pharaoh and all his people, both noble and common. And it has been mentioned in "Alif Lam Meem" [Al-A'raf: 1], their mention and what they were sent to them in it. And the signs are the proofs and miracles and what is similar to them. And His saying: "but they were arrogant" means: they were proud and disbelieved in them. And "criminal" means: they commit what Allah has not permitted and dare to do so in a dangerous manner.