Tafsir of Al-Mu'minoon 23:23

(And We certainly sent Noah to his people): This marks the commencement of illustrating the people’s negligence and their abandonment of contemplation and drawing lessons from the blessings He, Glorified be He, had enumerated, and the decline that befell them. In this, there is a warning to the Quraysh. The placing of Noah’s story, peace be upon him, before all other stories has a rationale that is not hidden. Its introduction following His, the Exalted’s, saying: “And upon them and upon the ships you are carried” has a perfection of placement that cannot be described. Beginning it with an oath serves to manifest the complete attention given to its content. Discussions regarding the lineage of Noah, peace be upon him, the duration of his stay among his people, and the like, have already passed. The most correct view is that his message, peace be upon him, was not universal; rather, he was sent to specific people.

(So he said): Being compassionate towards them and seeking to incline them toward the truth: (O my people, worship Allah): That is, worship Him alone, as clarified by His, the Exalted’s, saying in Surah Hud: “That you worship none but Allah.” The omission of the restriction here is to indicate that this is the only true worship; as for worship accompanied by polytheism, it is nothing at all.

His, the Exalted’s, saying: (You have no god other than Him): This is an inaugural statement meant to provide the reasoning for the commanded worship, or the reasoning for the command itself. (Ghayruhu) in the nominative case is an adjective for “god” based on its underlying position, which is nominative as the agent of the implicit “exists” (la-kum), or it is a subject whose predicate is “for you” or is omitted. (Lakum) is for specification and clarification—meaning: you have no god in existence other than Him, the Exalted. It has also been recited in the genitive case (ghayrihi), taking into account the grammatical form of the word “god” (ilah).

(Will you not then fear?)

The interrogative particle (al-hamza) is for rejecting the actual situation and deeming it detestable, and the conjunction (al-fa) is for connecting to an implicit premise necessitated by the context—that is: "Do you acknowledge this—meaning the content of His, the Exalted’s, saying: 'You have no god other than Him'—and yet you do not fear His, the Exalted’s, punishment, which is necessitated by your abandonment of worshipping Him, the Glorified, alone, and your associating with Him, the Mighty and Majestic, in worship someone who would not even deserve existence were it not for Allah’s bringing him into being, let alone deserving worship?" Thus, what is being denied is the failure to fear while that which necessitates it is present. It is also permissible that the implied meaning be: "Do you not observe, and therefore not fear?" In which case, both matters are being denied. The exaggeration in the first interpretation is regarding the quality (of the act), and in the second, it is regarding the quantity (of the omission). Estimating an object for the verb "fear" as we have indicated is more appropriate than the estimation made by some—that it refers to the "loss of blessings"—for we do not concede that the context necessitates that, as is not hidden.