ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ
And the eminent among his people who disbelieved and denied the meeting of the Hereafter while We had given them luxury in the worldly life said, "This is not but a man like yourselves. He eats of that from which you eat and drinks of what you drink.
Tafsir
Verse range: 23:33
"And the eminent among his people said..."
[The Question of the Conjunction] If you ask: The response of Hūd’s people is mentioned in Sūrat al-A‘rāf and Sūrat Hūd without the conjunction wāw (e.g., "The eminent among those who disbelieved from his people said..."), yet here it is mentioned with the wāw. What is the difference?
I say: The version without the wāw is based on the assumption of an inquirer asking, "What did his people say?" So, it is said to him, "They said such-and-such." As for the version with the wāw, it is a conjunction linking what they said to what he (Hūd) said. Its meaning is that both this truth (Hūd’s message) and this falsehood (their response) occurred together—and how vast is the difference between them!
[Regarding "The Meeting of the Hereafter"] Meaning: The meeting of what is therein—the reckoning, the reward, and the punishment. It is like your saying, "How excellent is the neighborhood of Mecca," meaning: the neighborhood of Allah in Mecca.
[Regarding the Omission] The pronoun is omitted; the meaning is "of your drink." Or, it is omitted because what precedes it indicates it.
[Regarding "Then"] The word idha (then/when) functions as the consequence of the condition and a response to those of their people who spoke to them. It means: You lose your intellects and are cheated in your opinions.
"Does he promise you that when you have died and become dust and bones that you will be brought forth? Far, far is that which you are promised! It is not but our worldly life—we die and we live, and we will not be resurrected. He is not but a man who has invented a lie about Allah, and we will not believe him."
