His saying, exalted and glorious is He: ﴿And if We had destroyed them with a punishment before him, they would have said, 'Our Lord, why did You not send us a messenger, so we could follow Your signs before we are humiliated and disgraced?'﴾ ﴿Say, 'Everyone is waiting, so wait. You will surely know who are the companions of the straight path and who is guided.'﴾ Allah, the Most High, informed His Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, that if He had destroyed this disbelieving nation before sending Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, to them, they would have had an argument against Him and would have said: ﴿Why did You not send us a messenger?﴾ The narration from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, states: "Three will argue with Allah, the Most High, on the Day of Resurrection: the one who perished in the period of ignorance, the one whose intellect was overcome, and the small child. The one whose intellect was overcome will say: 'My Lord, why did You not give me intellect?' The small child will say something similar, and the one who perished in the period of ignorance will say: 'O my Lord, why did You not send a messenger to me? If a messenger had come to me, I would have been the most obedient of Your creation to You.' It will be said to them: 'Turn back.' The one who was destined for happiness will turn back, while the wretched will fall away from it. Allah, blessed and exalted, will say: 'You disobeyed Me, so how would you have acted with My messengers if they had come to you?'" The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: As for the small child and the one whose intellect was overcome, their situation is clear. As for the one from the period of ignorance, he is not like the disbelievers of Quraysh before the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him; because the disbelievers of Quraysh and others who knew and heard about prophethood and messengership in the corners of the earth are not from the people of ignorance. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to the man who asked him about his father: "My father and your father are in the Fire." And 'Amr ibn Luhayy was seen in the Fire, among other things that would take long to mention. The one from the period of ignorance is assumed to be a human who did not receive the message that Allah, the Most High, sent a messenger or called to a religion. This is rarely found, unless it is an exception in the remote corners of the earth that are cut off from civilization. Humiliation and disgrace are coupled with the punishment of the Hereafter. Then Allah commanded His Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, to warn them and to prepare himself for waiting and expecting relief. "Waiting" means being patient, and "the straight path" means the way. A group read: "from the companions of the straight path," and another group read: "the straight path." It is as if this verse divided the two groups, meaning: You will know this from that. A group read: "the straight path" with a strong 'waw' and an opening, and another group read: "the straight path" with a 'sīn' that is pronounced with a 'dhamma' and a hamza on the 'waw,' in the form of 'fa'la.' And "who is guided" means: he was righteous. The interpretation of Surah Taha is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.