His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Thus We have sent you among a nation that has passed away before it nations, that you may recite to them what We have revealed to you while they disbelieve in the Most Merciful. Say, "He is my Lord; there is no deity except Him. Upon Him I have relied, and to Him is my return."﴾ ﴿And if there were a Qur'an by which the mountains were moved or the earth was cut apart or the dead were spoken to, rather, to Allah belongs the command altogether. So have those who believed not despaired that if Allah had willed, He would have guided the people all together? And those who disbelieved will continue to be struck by what they have done or will descend near their home until the promise of Allah comes. Indeed, Allah does not fail in the appointment.﴾ ﴿And certainly, messengers were mocked before you. So I gave respite to those who disbelieved; then I seized them. And how was My punishment?﴾

The "kaf" in His saying: "Thus" is related to the meaning in His saying: ﴿Say, "Indeed, Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back."﴾ [Ar-Ra'd: 27]. That is: just as Allah has executed this, so We have sent you. This is a statement, and what appears to me is that the meaning is: just as We have established the custom that Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides, not the proposed signs, so likewise is Our action with this nation. We have sent you to it with revelation, not with the proposed signs, and Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And they disbelieve in the Most Merciful﴾, Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj said: It was revealed concerning Quraysh when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, made a treaty with them in the year of Hudaybiyyah. He wrote in the document: "In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful," and one of them said: "We do not know the Most Gracious, nor do we read His name."

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

And what I say about this is that "the Most Gracious" here refers to Allah, exalted is He, and He attributed to them disbelief in Him absolutely. The story of Hudaybiyyah and the story of Ummiyyah ibn Khalaf with Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf is only about the rejection of the name, and it is an evasion from this expression which they only knew from Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Then Allah commanded His Prophet to clarify the religion and to express the call in His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Say, "He is my Lord; there is no deity except Him. Upon Him I have relied, and to Him is my return."﴾ And "the return" is the place of return, like "the place of repentance," because repentance is returning.

It is possible that his saying: ﴿And if there were a Qur'an by which the mountains were moved﴾ is related to his saying: ﴿And they disbelieve in the Most Merciful﴾. So the meaning of the verse is to inform about them that they do not believe even if a Qur'an were revealed by which the mountains were moved or the earth were cut apart. This is the interpretation of Al-Farra' and a group of the interpreters. Another group said: Rather, the answer to 'if' is omitted, its estimation being: And if there were a Qur'an whose description is such, they would not believe in any way. Those who hold this interpretation include Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and others: 'Indeed, the disbelievers said to the Prophet ﷺ: Remove from us, or move the two mountains of Mecca, for they have constrained us, and make for us land suitable for planting and cultivation, and revive for us our fathers and grandfathers, so-and-so and so-and-so. Thus the verse was revealed,' indicating that they do not believe even if all of that were to happen. Another group said: The answer to 'if' is omitted, but it is not in this meaning; rather, its estimation is: This Qur'an would be what is done by it. The verse, on this account, includes the glorification of the Qur'an, and this is a good saying that clarifies the eloquence of the verse. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Rather, to Allah belongs the command entirely﴾ supports the last interpretation and aligns with the others.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Have those who believed not yet despaired﴾ means: know, and this is the language of the Hawazin, as said by Al-Qasim ibn Ma'n. Ibn al-Kalbi said: It is the language of 'Habail,' a tribe from the Nakha. From it is the saying of Suhaym ibn Wathil al-Riyahi:

I say to them at the valley when they are despairing, ∗∗∗ Did you not despair that I am the son of Faris Zahdam?

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

It is possible that 'despair' in this verse is in its proper sense, and that is because when he distanced their faith in his saying: ﴿And if there were a Qur'an﴾, according to the two interpretations regarding the omitted estimation, he said in this: Have the believers not despaired of the faith of these disbelievers, knowing that if Allah willed, He would have guided all the people?

Ibn Kathir and Ibn Muhaisin read 'Yayis,' and Ibn Abbas, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abi Mulaykah, Ikrimah, al-Jahdari, Ali ibn Hussein, Zayd ibn Ali, and Ja'far ibn Muhammad read: 'Have they not become clear.'

Then He, the Most High, informed about the disbelievers of Quraysh and the Arabs that they will continue to be afflicted by calamities from the raids of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his battles. Ibn Mas'ud and Mujahid read: 'And those who have wronged will not cease.' Then He said: ﴿Or will you, O Muhammad, soon be near their homes?﴾ This is the interpretation of a group among them, as reported by al-Tabari, and attributed to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Qatadah. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: The meaning is: Or will the calamity be near their homes? And Sa'id ibn Jubair and Mujahid read: 'Or will it be near their dwellings' in the plural.

And the promise of Allah - according to the saying of Ibn Abbas and others - is the conquest of Mecca. And Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan said: The verse is general for the disbelievers until the Day of Resurrection. The state of the disbelievers is always like this. And the promise of Allah is the Day of Resurrection. And "Al-Qari'ah": the calamity that strikes the heart of its owner with its severity, like killing, captivity, plundering wealth, and exposing the private parts, and so on.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And certainly, messengers were mocked before you﴾. This is a verse of reassurance for the Prophet ﷺ, meaning: Do not let your heart be distressed, O Muhammad, by what you see from your people and what you encounter from them. This is neither unprecedented nor strange; this has occurred among the nations before. And "I extended for them": meaning: I prolonged the duration and delayed them. And "Al-Imlaa": is the postponement in the context of leading them on, and it is from the extension of time. And from it: I enjoyed a good life.

And His saying: ﴿So how was My punishment﴾ is a confirmation and astonishment, containing a warning for the disbelievers contemporary to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him.