His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And they said, O you to whom the Reminder has been sent down, indeed you are surely insane﴾ ﴿Why do you not bring us the angels if you are among the truthful?﴾ ﴿We do not send down the angels except with the truth, and then they would not be given respite﴾ ﴿Indeed, We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will surely preserve it﴾ ﴿And certainly We have sent before you in the sects of the former ones﴾ ﴿And there did not come to them any messenger except that they used to ridicule him﴾

The pronoun in "they said" refers to the disbelievers of Quraysh. It is reported that the speakers were: Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah, and Al-Nadr ibn Al-Harith and their likes. Al-A'mash read: "O you to whom the Reminder has been cast down." Their saying: ﴿O you to whom the Reminder has been sent down﴾ is a statement of mockery, meaning: by your claim and assertion. This address is like when you say to an ignorant man who wants to speak about something he does not understand: O you who claim to know, you do not know how to perform ablution.

And "if not" means "if it were not for," so it serves as an encouragement as in this verse. It may also indicate the prevention of something due to the necessity of another, as Ibn Muqbil said:

If it were not for modesty and if not for religion, I would have criticized you both with some of what is in you when you criticized my flaw.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amir read: "The angels do not descend" with the opening of the 'ta' and in the nominative case. Al-Asim read in the narration of Abu Bakr except that he included the 'ta', which is the reading of Yahya ibn Waththab. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Hafs read: "We send down" with the 'nun' of greatness, and "the angels" in the accusative case, which is the reading of Talhah ibn Musarif.

His saying: ﴿except with the truth﴾, Mujahid said: the meaning is: with the message and punishment.

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

The apparent meaning is that it is as it must and is right from the revelation and the benefits that Allah shows to His servants, not by the request of a disbeliever, nor by the choice of an objector. Then he mentioned Allah's custom with the nations that He did not send them a sign of request except that punishment followed it if they did not believe. It is as if the statement is: We do not send down the angels except with a right and obligation, not by your request. Also, if they were to descend, they would not be given respite after that, meaning: they would not be delayed, and the respite is the delay, and the meaning is: this will not be the case if it is in Allah's knowledge that among them is one who will believe, or will give birth to one who will believe.

'And His saying, the Most High: "Indeed, We have sent down the Reminder" is a response to those who belittle in their saying: "O you to whom the Reminder has been sent down." This is like a man saying to you in a manner of belittlement: "O great one in status," and you respond to him in a manner of rejection and denial: "Yes, I am great in status," then you continue in your words, so reflect on it. And His saying: "And indeed, We are its guardians," a group said: The pronoun in "it" refers to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, meaning: We protect him from your harm, and we shield him from your plots and others. Al-Tabari mentioned this saying but did not attribute it. And among this group was the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, until Allah manifested through him the Shari'ah and his time came. Another group - which is the majority - said: The pronoun in "it" refers to the Qur'an, as stated by Mujahid and Qatadah, and the meaning is: We are guardians from it being altered or changed as occurred with other revealed books. In the last page of Sahih al-Bukhari from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, it is stated that the alteration in it was only in interpretation, but in wording, no. And the apparent meaning of the verses of the Qur'an indicates that they altered the wording, and placing the hand on the verse of stoning is in the sense of altering the words. It was said: We are guardians by preserving it in the hearts of men, and the meaning is similar. And Qatadah said: This verse is akin to His saying, the Most High: "Falsehood does not come to it from before it or from behind it" [Fussilat: 42].

And His saying, the Most High: "And indeed, We sent before you" is a consolation for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and a presentation of an example, meaning: Let not your heart be constricted, O Muhammad, by what your people do of mockery in their saying: "O you to whom the Reminder has been sent down" and others. Indeed, we have previously sent messengers among the sects of the earlier ones, and that was their conduct in mocking the messengers. And "sects" is the plural of "sect," which is the group that follows a leader, whether a doctrine or a man or something similar. It is derived from their saying: I have kept the fire alive if I continued its flame with fuel or otherwise, so the sect seems to connect the matter of its leader and manifest it and support it with assistance. And His saying: "We sent before you" implies "messengers," then He abbreviated their mention for the indication of an apparent meaning in the saying regarding that.