His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So if they turn away, say: I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of 'Aad and Thamud" (when the messengers came to them from before them and from behind them, saying: Do not worship except Allah. They said: If our Lord had willed, He would have sent down angels; so we are certainly disbelievers in what you have been sent with). "As for 'Aad, they were arrogant in the land without right and said: Who is stronger than us in power? Did they not see that Allah, who created them, is stronger than them in power? And they were denying Our signs."

The meaning: If Quraysh and the Arabs, whom I have called to Allah, exalted is He, turn away from these clear verses, then inform them that you warn them that a punishment like that which afflicted the nations that denied, as they are denying now, may befall them. The majority of people read: "a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt," while Al-Nakha'i, Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, and Ibn Muhaisin read: "a thunderclap like the thunderclap." As for this last reading, its meaning is clear; for a thunderclap is destruction for a person. As for the first, it is known that a thunderbolt is a severe strike from the sound of thunder, and it sometimes comes with a piece of fire. Thus, the occurrence of punishment is likened to it; for 'Aad was not punished except by a wind. This is merely a comparison and a metaphor, and with the occurrence, Qatadah and others explained the thunderbolt here. He specifically mentioned 'Aad and Thamud because Quraysh were familiar with their lands in Yemen and in the stone region on the way to Sham.

And His saying, exalted is He: "from before them," means: they preceded in time, and their warning reached the lifetimes of 'Aad and Thamud. With this connection, the proof was established. And His saying, exalted is He: "and from behind them," means: a messenger came to them after their lifetimes had been completed and after their existence had progressed in time. Therefore, He, exalted is He, said: "and from behind them." From the entirety of the phrase, the proof is established against them that the message and the warning encompassed them in news and direct address. It is not appropriate to interpret "and from behind them" as referring to what came after them in time; for that would not imply any deficiency from it. As for Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, he said: The pronoun in His saying, exalted is He: "and from behind them" refers back to the messengers, and the pronoun in His saying, exalted is He: "from before them" refers back to the nations. Al-Thalabi followed him in this, but this is not strong; for it differentiates the pronouns and complicates the meaning.

And "that" in His saying, exalted is He: "saying: Do not worship except Allah" is an accusative due to the omission of the preposition, the intended meaning being: "by saying that." And "you worship" is in the jussive form due to the prohibition, and it is possible that it could be in the accusative if "no" is negating, but this is less likely. Among those nations was the denial of the mission of humans and the calling for angels, and this was also among the claims of Quraysh. And their saying: "So we are certainly disbelievers in what you have been sent with" is not in the sense of acknowledging that they were sent with something, but rather it means: according to your claim and assertion.

Then he described the condition of the people, and that 'Aad sought arrogance and placed themselves in it without right, but rather with disbelief and sins. Their strength and the greatness of their bodies and the blessings upon them led them astray. They said - in a manner of assertion -: "Who is stronger than us?" meaning: No one is stronger than us. So Allah, the Exalted, presented in His saying: "Did they not see that Allah, who created them, is stronger than them?" This is clear in reason, for the one who brings something into existence and creates it whenever He wills is stronger than it. And He, Blessed and Exalted, informed about them of their denial of His signs, which are set for observation and revealed from Him; for the wording of the verse encompasses that.