'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, the Exalted and Majestic, says: "And We certainly sent Noah to his people, saying, 'Indeed, I am to you a clear warner. That you not worship except Allah. Indeed, I fear for you the punishment of a painful day.'" So the elite of those who disbelieved from his people said, 'We do not see you except as a man like us, and we do not see that anyone has followed you except the most lowly among us, by mere appearance. And we do not see in you any merit over us; rather, we think you are liars.' This verse is a narrative that represents Quraysh and the disbelievers of the Arabs. It informs Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, that he is not unique among the messengers. It has been narrated that Noah, peace be upon him, was the first messenger to the people. It has also been narrated that Idris was a prophet from the children of Adam, but he was not sent. Thus, the message of Noah was indeed to his people, like that of the other prophets, whereas the general message was only for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, 'Asim, and Hamzah read: 'Indeed, I' with a kasrah on the alif, while Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, and Al-Kisai read: 'That I' with a fathah on the alif. The kasrah implies an ellipsis of the saying, meaning: he said to them: 'Indeed, I am to you a clear warner,' then comes his saying: 'That you not worship' as an object for 'We sent,' meaning: We sent Noah with 'that you not worship except Allah,' and the saying 'Indeed, I am to you a clear warner' interrupts the speech. The fathah indicates the application of 'We sent' to 'That I,' meaning: 'by which I am to you a clear warner.' Abu Ali said: In this reading, there is a transition from the unseen to addressing the audience. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: There is a consideration in this, as it is merely a narration of his address to their saying, and this is not the reality of the transition from the unseen to addressing. If the speech were: 'Warn them' or something similar, that would be correct. The 'warner' is for safeguarding from evils by making them known and alerting to them, and 'clear' is from abana yubinu. And His saying, the Exalted, 'That you not worship except Allah' is clear that they were worshiping idols and similar things, and that is evident in other than this verse. 'Painful' means: painful, and it was described with it the day, and it is right to describe the punishment with it by analogy, as the punishment is in the day, just as they say: 'A fasting day' and 'A standing night.' The 'elite' is the group and the majority from the tribe and the city and similar, and the nobles are called elite as they are the pillars of the elite and the ones who support it in opinions and matters. Every large gathering is an elite. When Noah said to them: 'Indeed, I am to you a warner,' they said: 'We do not see you except as a man like us,' meaning: by Allah, He does not send a messenger from among humans, thus they attributed the possible to Allah, the Exalted. The 'lowly' is the plural of 'lowly,' and it is said: the plural of 'lowly' and 'lowly' is the plural of 'low.' The necessary - on this - is that it should be said: 'lowly ones.' If the ya is established in the plural of 'Sairaf,' it is more appropriate that it should not be removed in the place of its right. They are the lowest of the people and those who have no morals, and they do not care what they say or what is said to them. The majority read 'by mere appearance' with a ya without hamzah, from bada yabdu, and it is possible that it is from bada musahhalan. Abu 'Amr and 'Isa Al-Thaqafi read 'at the beginning of the opinion' with the hamzah from bada yabda. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Between the two readings, there is a difference in meaning that contemplation provides. I left the elaboration of it. The Arabs say: "As for the beginning, I praise Allah," and "As for the beginning," without a hamzah in either. And the poet said:

I have become like my empty one, the beginning of the beginning, And my tongue and my hand have become for the stallion.

And another said:

And I have been overtaken by a beginning of the beginning.

The majority read with a hamzah in "the opinion," while Abu Amr read without the hamzah. "Beginning" is in the accusative as an adverb, and it is correct for it to be the active participle as it is correct in "near" and similar. The forms "fa'il" and "fa'il" are always interchangeable in meaning, and in the source, it is like saying: I love such and such with all my effort.

The connection of his saying: "the beginning of the opinion" has six possibilities:

The first is that it relates to "we see you" at first glance and with little thought. This is the beginning of the opinion, meaning that the ones who follow you are our lowly ones.

The second is that it relates to his saying: "they followed you," meaning that we do not see anyone following you at first opinion except the lowly ones. Then, on this, his saying: "the beginning of the opinion" has two meanings: one is that he means they followed you in the apparent of their matter, and perhaps their inner selves are not with you.

The second is that they followed you at first glance and with the apparent opinion without any scrutiny. If they had verified you, they would not have followed you. In this aspect, there is a blame of the opinion that is not substantiated.

The third possibility from the connection of his saying: "the beginning of the opinion" is that it relates to his saying: "our lowly ones," meaning those who are our lowly ones at first glance among them, and by the beginning of the opinion, this is known from them.

It is possible that their saying: "the beginning of the opinion" is a description from them to Noah, meaning you claim greatness while you are exposed in your opinion, and you have no wisdom. It is in the accusative as a state and as a description.

It is possible that it is an interruption in the speech addressing Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. All of this comes with six meanings, and it is permissible to connect in this aspect with "he said."

And the meaning of: "And we do not see for you over us any favor" is that there is nothing you deserve for following and obedience. Then he said: "But we think you are liars," and it is possible that they addressed Noah and those who believed with him from his people, meaning you are liars in your belief in this liar and your saying that he is a sent prophet. It is possible that they addressed Noah alone, and it would be from the type of his saying: "O Prophet, when you divorce."