Tafseer Ibn Kathir of ASY SYU'ARAA' [111]

111. They said: ”Shall we believe in you, when the inferior follow you'' 112. He said: ”And what knowledge have I of what they used to do'' 113. ”Their account is only with my Lord, if you could (but) know.'' 114. ”And I am not going to drive away the believers.'' 115. ”I am only a plain warner.'' They said: ”We do not believe in you, and we will not follow you and become equal to the meanest of the people, who follow you and believe in you, and they are the lowest among us.''

(They said: ”Shall we believe in you, when the inferior follow you'' He said: ”And what knowledge have I of what they used to do'') meaning, `what does it have to do with me if they follow me No matter what they used to do before, I do not have to check on them and examine their background; all I have to do is accept it if they believe in me; whatever is in their hearts is for Allah to know.'

(Their account is only with my Lord, if you could (but) know. And I am not going to drive away the believers.) It seems that they asked him to drive these people away, then they would follow him, but he refused to do that, and said:

(And I am not going to drive away the believers. I am only a plain warner.) meaning, `I have been sent as a warner, and whoever obeys me and follows me and believes in me, then he belongs to me and I to him, whether he is noble or common, upper-class or lower-class.'