Tafsir of Sad 38:62

{And they said}: The pronoun refers to the transgressors.

{men}: They mean the poor Muslims who are held in no regard.

{from the wicked}: From the base people in whom there is no good and no benefit. Because they were of a different religion than them, they were considered "wicked" in their eyes.

{Do we take them as a mockery?}: It is read with the phrasing of a statement, as an adjective for "men," similar to the saying: "We used to count them among the wicked." It is also read with an interrogative hamza, as a form of self-reproach and censure for having mocked them.

{Or have [our] eyes missed them?}: This has two possible connections:

1. Connecting to "What is [the matter] with us": Meaning, "Why do we not see them in the Fire?" It is as if they are not in it, but rather our eyes have missed them, so we do not see them even though they are there. They divided their situation between them being people of Paradise or people of the Fire, yet their location remained hidden from them.
2. Connecting to "Do we take them as a mockery":
   • If "Or" (am) is conjunctive: It implies, "Which of the two actions did we perform toward them: mocking them, or scorning and belittling them?"—meaning that our eyes would look past them and overlook them. This is a denial of both actions by themselves. Al-Hasan said: "They did all of that; they took them as a mockery, and their eyes missed them out of contempt."
   • If "Or" (am) is disjunctive: It follows "Do we take them as a mockery" (whether read as a statement or a question), similar to saying: "Is it camels or sheep?" or "Is Zayd with you, or is Amr with you?"

You may assume the interrogative hamza is omitted for those who read it without the hamza, because "am" (or) implies it; thus, the two readings—the presence of the interrogative hamza and its omission—do not differ in meaning.

It is said: The pronoun in {they are turning away} and {they said} refers to the chieftains of Quraysh, such as Abu Jahl, al-Walid, and their likes. The "men" are Ammar, Suhayb, Bilal, and their likes.

It is read as sukhriyan (with a damma) and sikhriyan (with a kasra).