Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL ANBIYAA' [1]

1. Draws near for mankind their reckoning, while they turn away in heedlessness. 2. Comes not unto them an admonition from their Lord as a recent revelation but they listen to it while they play. 3. With their hearts occupied. Those who do wrong, conceal their private counsels, (saying): ”Is this more than a human being like you Will you submit to magic while you see it'' 4. He said: ”My Lord knows what is said in the heavens and on earth. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.'' 5. Nay, they say: ”These are mixed up false dreams! Nay, he has invented it! -- Nay, he is a poet! Let him then bring us an Ayah like the ones that were sent before!'' 6. Not one of the towns of those which We destroyed, believed before them; will they then believe.   This is a warning from Allah of the approach of the Hour, and that people are heedless of it, i.e., they are not working for it or preparing for it. An-Nasa'i recorded that Abu Sa`id reported from the Prophet :

(while they turn away in heedlessness), he said,

(in this world.) Allah says:

(The Event ordained by Allah will come to pass, so seek not to hasten it)

(The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder. And if they see a sign, they turn away.) ï´¿54:1,2ï´¾. Then Allah states that they do not listen to the revelation (Wahy) that He sends down to His Messenger , which is addressed to the Quraysh and all disbelievers like them.

(Comes not unto them an admonition from their Lord as a recent revelation) meaning, newly-revealed,

(but they listen to it while they play. ) This is like what Ibn `Abbas said, ”Why do you ask the People of the Book about what they have, which has been altered and distorted, and they have added things and taken things away, when your Book is the most recently revealed from Allah, and you read it pure and unadulterated'' Al-Bukhari recorded something similar to this.

(Those who do wrong, conceal their private counsels) meaning, what they say to one another in secret.

(Is this more than a human being like you) meaning, the Messenger of Allah . They did not believe that he could be a Prophet because he was a human being like them, so how could he have been singled out to receive revelation, and not them They said:

(Will you submit to magic while you see it) meaning, will you follow him and be like one who submits to magic when he knows that it is magic Allah said in response to their fabrications and lies:

(He said: ”My Lord knows what is said in the heavens and on earth...'') Nothing at all is hidden from the One Who knows that, and He is the One Who reveals this Qur'an which contains news of the earliest and last generations. No one can produce the like of this except the One Who knows all the secrets of the heavens and the earth.

(And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.) means, He hears all that they say and He knows all their circumstances. This is a warning and a threat to them.  

(Nay, they say: ”These are mixed up false dreams! Nay, he has invented it!...'') Here Allah tells us of the stubbornness and heresy of the disblievers, and the various things they said about the Qur'an, and how they were confused and misguided about it. Sometimes they described it as magic, and sometimes they described it as poetry, or mixed up false dreams, or a fabrication. As Allah says:

(See what examples they have put forward for you. So they have gone astray, and never can they find a way) ï´¿17:48ï´¾

(Let him then bring us an Ayah like the ones that were sent before!) They were referring to the she-camel of Salih, and the signs of Musa and `Isa. And Allah says,

(And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them.) ï´¿17:59ï´¾. So Allah said here:

(Not one of the towns of those which We destroyed, believed before them; will they then believe) None of the peoples to whom Messengers were sent were given a sign at the hands of their Prophet and believed. On the contrary, they disbelieved and We destroyed them as a result. Would these people believe in a sign if they saw it Not at all! In fact,

(Truly, those, against whom the Word of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) ï´¿10:96-97ï´¾. Indeed, they witnes- sed clear signs and definitive proof at the hands of the Messen- ger of Allah , signs which were far clearer and more overwhel- ming than any that had been witnessed in the case of any other Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all.