Surah Saba' 34:34
ﱸ ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ
And We did not send into a city any warner except that its affluent said, "Indeed we, in that with which you were sent, are disbelievers."
Tafsir of Saba' 34:34
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 34:34
Sura Saba (34): "And We have not sent..."
This is a consolation to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) regarding the trials he faced from his people: their denial and disbelief in what he brought, their competition through the abundance of wealth and children, their boasting and worldly adornments, their arrogance toward the believers because of this, and their belittling of them.
It refers to their saying: "Which of the two parties is better in position and better in assembly?" (Maryam: 73).
It means that never was a warner sent to the people of a town but that they said to him what the people of Mecca said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and they plotted against him just as they plotted against him. They measured the affairs of the Hereafter—which they deemed imaginary or merely hypothetical—by the affairs of this world. They believed that if they were not honored by Allah, He would not have provided for them, and that if the believers were not insignificant to Him, He would not have deprived them.
Based on this logic, they said: "And we will not be punished." They meant that they were too honored by Allah to be punished, judging by their status in this world.
"Say, 'Indeed, my Lord extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it], but most of the people do not know.'"