Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:128

(128) This is a connected exception from the waw (the third-person plural pronoun) in kadhdhabuhu ("they denied him"), which indicates that there were among his people those who were sincere and did not deny him.

It has been argued that it is an exception from the pronoun in muḥḍarūn ("those brought/presented [for punishment]"), because that pronoun refers to those who denied [him]. If an exception is made from it, the implication would be that they denied him but were not brought [to punishment], and the invalidity of this is evident. It was also said: Because if it is not an exception from the pronoun in kadhdhabū, then all of them were deniers, leaving no one sincere, let alone mukhlisīn (sincere ones). The outcome of this is what was previously mentioned, but Ibn Kamal objected to this by stating there is no invalidity in it, because their exception from the "brought people" is due to their lack of denial—as indicated by the description of being mukhlisīn—and not from the deniers; thus, the meaning remains the same.

This was refuted on the grounds that the pronoun in muḥḍarīn refers to the people [of the deniers], just as the pronoun in kadhdhabū does. Al-Khafaji stated: It is not hidden that the specialization of iḥḍār (being brought) to the punishment, as explicitly stated by more than one scholar, necessitates that the pronoun in muḥḍarīn refers to the deniers, not to the people in the absolute sense. If one does not concede this, that is another matter. In al-Baḥr, it is stated that it is not appropriate for it to be a disconnected exception, as the meaning would become: "But the sincere servants of God, from outside his people, will not be brought to the punishment," and there is room for discussion regarding this.