His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿They said, 'Indeed, we have taken omens from you. If you do not stop, we will surely stone you, and there will touch you from us a painful punishment.'﴾ ﴿They said, 'Your omen is with you. If you are reminded, rather you are a people transgressing.'﴾ ﴿And a man came from the farthest part of the city running. He said, 'O my people, follow the messengers.'﴾ ﴿Follow he who does not ask you for a reward, and they are guided.'﴾

Some of the interpreters said: The people of this village hastened in their denial of the messengers, so they said: ﴿Indeed, we have taken omens from you.﴾ And Muqatil said: The rain was withheld from them, and that is why they said it. Its meaning is: We have taken ill omens from you. It is derived from the ruling of birds, and it is a meaning that is commonly used among nations. The term 'I have taken omens' is rarely used except in the context of bad omens. As for the ruling of birds among its practitioners, it is about good and bad omens. The most apparent reason for the ill omens of these people was due to the discord that entered their village and the trial of the people. This is similar to the ill omens of Quraysh regarding Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and similar to what was addressed to Moses, peace be upon him. And Qatadah said: If evil befalls us, it is indeed because of you. And 'we will surely stone you' means: with stones. This was said by Qatadah, may Allah be pleased with him. And their saying, peace be upon them: ﴿Your omen is with you﴾ means: your share and what has come to you of evil or good is with you, meaning: from your actions and your earnings. It is not because of us or due to us, but because of your transgression and your disbelief. And with this, the people interpreted it. And the share and portion was metaphorically called an omen, meaning it is what results from observing the birds. This meaning has been used so frequently that the Ansari woman said: 'Our share fell to us when the emigrants divided, Othman ibn Maz'un.' And the jurists say: 'So-and-so's share fell in the division like this.'

(p-241) Ibn Hurmuz, Al-Hasan, and Amr ibn Ubaid read: 'Your birds.' And Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Asim, and Ibn Amer read: 'If you are reminded' with two hamzah, the second being broken, meaning: 'If you are reminded, do you take omens?' And Nafi, Abu Amr, and Ibn Kathir read by facilitating this second hamzah and turning it into a ya: 'If you are reminded.' And Al-Majashun read: 'That' with a fatḥah on the alif. And Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: 'If you are reminded' with a kasrah on the alif. And Abu Amr - in some of what has been narrated from him - and Wazir ibn Hubaysh also read: 'If you are reminded' with two open hamzah. And the evidence for this is the poet's saying:

'If you were of the two cloaks, dark and curled, Then you are not a guardian for your cousin, a mahram.'

And Abu Ja'far ibn Al-Qaqa, and Al-A'mash read: 'Where were you reminded?' with the ya being silent and the kaf being softened, so it is 'where' in the context of place. This is the reading of Khalid, Talhah, Qatadah, and Al-Hasan only in softening the kaf. Then He described them, exalted and majestic is He, with transgression and excess.

And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informed about the condition of a man who came from the farthest part of the city. He heard from the messengers and understood from Allah, so he came running on his feet and heard their words. When he understood them, it was narrated that he followed up on their matter and addressed them by saying: "Are you seeking a reward for your call?" They said: "No." Then he called upon his people to follow them and to believe in them, for he is the truth. Then he argued with them by saying: ﴿Follow those who do not ask you for a reward, and they are guided﴾, meaning: and they are upon guidance from Allah. This verse is decisive in the deficiency of one who takes a reward for any of the actions of the Shari'ah that are obligatory, such as prayer and similar acts, for it is like conveying the message of the one who was sent, unlike that which is not obligatory, such as leadership and judiciary. And Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, earned a living from it. It was narrated from Abu Mijlaz, Ka'b al-Ahbar, and Ibn Abbas that the name of this man was Habib, and he was a carpenter. It was said by Wahb ibn Munabbih that he had become emaciated, and it was said that he was in a cave worshipping his Lord. Ibn Abi Layla said: "The foremost of the nations are three who did not disbelieve in Allah for the blink of an eye: Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, the companion of Yasin, and the believer from the family of Pharaoh." People mentioned names of the messengers: Sadiq, Saduq, and Shalum, and others besides them, and the authenticity is lacking, so I have abbreviated.