Saba: 35

"And they said: We are more..."

And they said—the pronoun refers to the affluent ones previously mentioned, though it is said to refer to the Quraysh; the apparent and immediate meaning is the former, and the intent is to narrate what emboldened them toward disbelief in what the warners were sent with—that is, the affluent ones said: "We are more in wealth and children"—meaning our wealth and children are very numerous, the form af'al (more/most) being used for absolute augmentation. It is also permissible that it remains in its most common usage, with the comparative object being omitted, meaning: we are more than you in wealth and children.

"And we are not going to be punished"—with any type of torment that would disturb the pleasure of our abundance of wealth and children, such as the fear of kings, the subjugation of enemies, the lack of influence, the hardship in attaining goals, and the like. Placing the pronoun before the negation particle is to indicate that those addressed, or the believers, are not like this. The sum of their statement is: We are in a state of grace unmixed with retribution, and this is evidence of our honor in the sight of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, and His satisfaction with us. If our current state of polytheism and other matters you invite us to abandon were contrary to His satisfaction, we would not be in this state of grace.

It is also possible that they extrapolated their imagined or hypothetical matters of the Hereafter based on worldly affairs, claiming that one who is favored in this world is also favored in the Hereafter. A group has adopted this view, stating that their denial of being punished is either based on the non-existence of otherworldly punishment altogether, or based on their belief that He, the Exalted, honored them in this world and therefore would not humiliate them in the Hereafter, even if it were to occur.

Al-Khafaji stated regarding the reason for placing the pronoun before the negation particle: It is an indication that the believers are the ones being punished, out of contempt for them, because they assumed that the intended meaning of the negated punishment is broader than just the otherworldly punishment; it includes the worldly punishment that the Prophets, peace be upon them, warn their people with should they fail to believe. Perhaps what we mentioned first is more appropriate for the context, so reflect upon it well.