Tafsir of Saba' 34:34

"And We did not send into any city" – from among the cities – "any warner" – i.e., any warner from among the warners – "except that its affluent ones said" – i.e., those who live in abundance of blessings therein; the sentence is in the position of a circumstantial qualifier (hal) – "We are, in what you have been sent with" – according to your claim, regarding monotheism and other things. The second prepositional phrase is connected to what is within it, while the first is connected to His saying, the Exalted, "disbelievers" (43), which is the predicate of "Inna" (We are).

The apparent meaning of the verse is that the affluent ones of every city said that to their messenger. Based on this, the plural in "you have been sent" (arseltum) is used for mockery. It is also said: it is to give precedence to the addressee over the category of messengers, or over his followers who believed in him.

Some eminent scholars said: The discourse is an instance of matching plurals with plurals. The first plural refers to the messengers indicated by His saying, the Exalted, "you have been sent," and the second to "disbelievers"; thus, everyone disbelieved in their own messenger and addressed him with such words, so there is no precedence in the address of "you have been sent."

It is also said: The first plural is "warner," as it implies generality in the narration, though not in the narrated, because it occurs within the context of negation. Since not every nation denied all messengers, it is interpreted as a matching correspondence.

The discourse is driven by the intent to console the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, regarding the opposition and enmity he faced from the affluent ones of his people. The affluent are singled out for the denial because they are, in most cases, the first to deny the messengers, peace be upon them, due to their preoccupation with the adornments of the world and what has overwhelmed their hearts thereof. They are immersed in desires and in disdain for those who have not attained worldly wealth, unlike the poor, whose hearts—being free from such things—are more receptive to goodness. This is why you see them as the most frequent followers of the prophets, peace be upon them, as mentioned in the hadith of Heraclius.