Tafsir of Sad 38:8

"Has the Reminder [i.e., the Quran] been sent down upon him from among us?" – that is, while we are the leaders of the people and their nobility, as they said, "Why was this Quran not sent down upon a great man from the two cities?" Their intent is to deny that it is a Reminder sent down from Allah, the Exalted, similar to their statement, "If it had been good, they would not have preceded us to it." Such vain assertions are evidence that the basis of their denial is nothing but envy and a narrow focus on worldly debris.

"Rather, they are in doubt of My Reminder" – meaning, of the Quran which I have sent down upon My Messenger, which is filled with monotheism. This is due to their inclination toward imitation and their turning away from the proofs that lead to knowledge of its truth. There is nothing in their belief system that they are certain of; hence, you see them attribute it sometimes to sorcery and other times to fabrication.

"But [bal]" is for the purpose of turning away from all that preceded it. The "bal" in the saying of the Exalted, "But they have not yet tasted My punishment," serves to turn away from the sum of the two preceding points: the mention of envy in His saying, "Has it been sent down...", and the mention of doubt in His saying, "Rather, they are in doubt." It means they have not yet tasted My punishment; once they taste it, the envy and doubt they possess will vanish at that moment. This implies that they will not believe unless the punishment touches them, at which point they will be compelled to believe.

Alternatively, it is a turning away from the previous "turning away," meaning they have not yet tasted My punishment, but when they do taste it, their doubt will cease and they will be compelled to believe in My Reminder. The first interpretation, according to al-Kashf, is the sound approach, and the subsequent verses align with it. It has also been said that the meaning is: they have not yet tasted My punishment promised in the Quran, and that is why they doubt it; this, as you can see, is [a weak interpretation]. In the expression "not yet [lamma]," there is an indication that their tasting of the punishment is on the verge of occurring.