This is a consolation for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding what he suffered from his people, meaning what he was tested with. They denied and disbelieved in what he brought, and they competed with him through their abundance of wealth and children, and they boasted and flaunted their worldly adornments. They were arrogant with that over the believers and belittled them because of it. They said, 'Which of the two groups is better in position and more excellent in assembly?' And he was never sent to the people of a town as a warner except that they said to him what the people of Mecca said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and they plotted against him in a manner similar to how they plotted against him. They compared the imagined or presumed matter of the Hereafter with the matters of this world. They believed that if they were not honored by Allah, He would not provide for them. And if the believers had not been insignificant to Him, He would not have deprived them. Based on their reasoning, they said, 'And we are not to be punished,' meaning they believed they were more honored by Allah than to be punished, considering their conditions in this world.