The Sovereign (Al-Mulk): (17) Or are you secure from Him Who is in the heaven...

Then He intensified the warning by saying:

{Or are you secure from Him Who is in the heaven that He might send against you a storm of stones?}

Ibn Abbas said: This is like what was sent against the people of Lot, as He said: {Indeed, We sent against them a storm of stones} (Al-Qamar: 34). Al-Hasib (a storm of stones) is a wind containing stones and pebbles, as if it tears up the gravel due to its intensity. It is also said that it is a cloud containing stones.

Then He threatened and warned, saying:

{And you will know how [severe] was My warning.}

It is said regarding Nadhīr (My warning) here that it refers to the Warner, meaning the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This is the view of 'Ata' from Ibn Abbas and Al-Dahhak. The meaning is: You will know the truth of My Messenger and his message, but at a time when it will no longer benefit you.

Another view is that it means the act of warning itself. The meaning is: You will know the consequence of My warning you through the Book and the Messenger. The word kayfa (how) in the phrase {how severe was My warning} indicates what we have mentioned: the truthfulness of the Messenger and the punishment for the warning.

Know that when the Almighty threatened the disbelievers with these threats, He reinforced that threat with an example and proof.

The example is that the disbelievers who preceded them witnessed similar punishments because of their disbelief, as He said: