Tafsir of Sad 38:14

This is an inaugural statement brought forward to establish their act of denial in the most eloquent manner, and as a prelude to what follows it. The particle in (إن) is a negative, having no grammatical effect due to the negation being interrupted by illa (إلا). Kull (كل) is the subject (mubtada’). The exclusion is mufarragh (a hollowed-out exclusion) from the most general of universals, which is the predicate. That is, no party of the [aforementioned] parties was judged by a judgment, or informed of a report, except that they were judged or informed that they "denied the messengers." This is because every one of the messengers confirms all the others, and they all agree upon the Truth; therefore, the denial of any one of them is a denial of them all.

It is also permitted that this is an instance of equating a plural with a plural—meaning: not one of them was judged by a judgment or informed of anything, except that they were judged or informed that they denied their messenger. The restriction (al-hasr) is for the sake of hyperbole; it is as if all their other attributes, in light of what has been established against them, are tantamount to nothing. This indicates that they were extreme in their denial. Their extremism is further evidenced by linking the denial to the "messengers" (in the plural), and by diversifying the two sentences into a nominal restrictive sentence and another (i.e., the Almighty’s saying: "Denied before them," etc.), and by making every faction a denier of all the messengers according to the first interpretation. This records against them their entitlement to the most severe punishment, which is why it is followed by the Almighty's saying:

That is, My punishment—which their crimes necessitated in their various forms—was confirmed and fell upon each one of them. Thus, the people of Noah were drowned, Pharaoh was destroyed by drowning, the people of Hud by the wind, Thamud by the sayhah (the blast), the people of Lot by being swallowed by the earth, and the Companions of the Wood by the punishment of the Shadow.

It is permitted that "those parties" (اولئك الأحزاب) be a substitute for the factions mentioned, and the sentence following it is an inaugural one, as you have heard. It is also permitted that it be a subject, and the sentence following it be the predicate, with an omitted referent—meaning: "Indeed, every one of them, or all of them, did nothing but deny the messengers." The combination is an inaugural statement confirming what preceded it, along with the explanation it contains regarding the nature of their denial. Both of these interpretations are contrary to the apparent meaning. As for what has been said—that it is a predicate and the subject is the Almighty's saying: "And ‘Ad," etc., or His saying: "And the people of Lot," etc.—this is a view from which the courtyard of the Revelation must be sanctified.