Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AR RA'D [7]

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

  (You are only a warner), and your duty is only to convey Allah's Message which He has ordered you,

  (Not upon you is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills.)﴿2:272﴾ Allah said;

(And to every people there is a guide.) meaning that for every people there has been a caller, according to Ibn `Abbas and as narrated from him by Ali bin Abi Talhah. Allah said in a similar Ayah, a  

(And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them.)﴿35:24﴾ Similar has reported from Qatadah and `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd.