Tafseer Ibn Kathir of SABA' [43]

43. And when Our Clear Verses are recited to them, they say: ”This is naught but a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers used to worship.'' And they say: ”This is nothing but an invented lie.'' And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them: ”This is nothing but evident magic!'' 44. And We had not given them Scriptures that they could study, nor sent to them before you any warner. 45. And those before them denied; these have not received even a tenth of what We had granted to those (of old); yet they denied My Messengers. Then how (terrible) was My denial! Allah tells us that the disbeliever deserve to be severely punished by Him, because when His clear Verses were recited to them, and they heard them fresh from the lips of His Messenger , they said:

(They say: ”This is naught but a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers used to worship.'') meaning, that the religion of their fathers was the truth and that what the Messenger brought to them was false -- may the curse of Allah be upon them and their fathers!

(And they say: ”This is nothing but an invented lie.'') referring to the Qur'an. l

(And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them: ”This is nothing but evident magic!'') Allah says:

(And We had not given them Scriptures that they could study, nor sent to them before you any warner) meaning, Allah did not reveal any Book to the Arabs before the Qur'an, and He did not send any Prophet to them before Muhammad . They used to wish for that and say, `if only a warner comes to us or a Book is revealed to us, we would be more guided than others,' but when Allah blessed them with that, they disbelieved him and stubbornly rejected him. Then Allah says:

(And those before them denied;) meaning, other nations.

(these have not received even a tenth of what We had granted to those (of old);) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ”Of the power of this world.'' This was also the view of Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd. This is like the Ayat:

(And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you! And We had assigned them the hearing, seeing, and hearts; but their hearing, seeing, and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayat of Allah, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!) (46: 26)

(Have they not traveled through the earth and seen what was the end of those before them They were more in number than them and mightier in strength) (40:82). but that did not protect them from the punishment of Allah, and Allah destroyed them because they denied His Messengers. Allah says:

(yet they denied My Messengers. Then how (terrible) was My denial!) meaning, `how severe was My wrath and how great was My avenging of My Messengers.'