It reached Quraysh before the mission of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that the people of the Book had denied their messengers. They said: 'May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians; messengers came to them, and they denied them. By Allah, if a messenger comes to us, we will surely be more guided than one of the nations.' So when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was sent, they denied him. And in 'one of the nations' there are two opinions. One is: from some of the nations, and from one of the nations, from the Jews and Christians and others. The second is: from the nation that is called 'one of the nations,' favoring it over others in guidance and uprightness. This did not increase them except in aversion from the truth and distancing from it, as His saying, glorified and exalted is He, states: 'So it increased them in wickedness to their wickedness.' 'Arrogance' is a substitute for 'aversion.' Or it is an object for the meaning: 'So it did not increase them except that they became averse out of arrogance and pride in the land,' or a state meaning: 'arrogantly and deceitfully against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the believers.' It is also possible that 'and the wicked plotting' is conjoined with 'aversion.' If you say: 'What is the meaning of His saying, and the wicked plotting?' I say: Its origin is: 'And they plotted wickedly,' meaning the wicked plotting, then 'and wicked plotting,' then 'and the wicked plotting.' The evidence for this is His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'And the wicked plotting does not surround except its people.' And the meaning of 'surround' is to encompass and descend. It has been recited: 'And the wicked plotting does not surround,' meaning: 'Allah does not surround,' and indeed it surrounded them on the Day of Badr. And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Do not plot nor assist in plotting.' [This was narrated by Ibn al-Mubarak in al-Zuhd. It has preceded at the beginning of Yunus.] For Allah, glorified and exalted is He, says: 'And the wicked plotting does not surround except its people,' and do not seek to harm nor assist a wrongdoer. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, says: 'Your wrongdoing is only against yourselves.' And from Ka'b, he said to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them: 'I read in the Torah: Whoever digs a pit for his brother will fall into it.' He said: 'I found that in the Book of Allah,' and he recited the verse. And in the proverbs of the Arabs: 'Whoever digs a pit for his brother will fall into it headlong.' And Hamzah recited: 'And wicked plotting,' with the hamzah being silent, due to the difficulty of movements with the ya and the hamzah, and perhaps it was a slip, so he thought it was silent or he paused lightly, then began 'And the wicked plotting.' And Ibn Mas'ud recited: 'And wicked plotting.' The tradition of the earlier ones is the sending down of punishment upon those who denied their messengers from the nations before them, and he made their reception of that an expectation from them. And he clarified that His custom, which is vengeance against the deniers of the messengers, is a custom that does not change or alter, meaning: it does not change, and that is certainly an object for it. And he cited as evidence what they used to witness in their travels and trades on their journeys to Sham, Iraq, and Yemen: from the remnants of the past and signs of their destruction and ruin, to incapacitate him so that he may precede him and escape.