“O my people, I ask of you no wealth for this. My reward is only with Allah. Nor will I drive away those who believe; indeed, they will meet their Lord. But I see that you are a people who act ignorantly.” (29)
“Then the leading men among his people who disbelieved said”—the leading men being the nobles and chiefs—“We see you, O Noah, as nothing but a human being like ourselves, and we see that none follow you except the lowliest among us, acting on first impression.” That is, the inferior among us. The term for “lowly” denotes what is inferior in every respect; its plural is formed first as ardhul, then as arādhil, just as the plural of “dog” is first aklub, then akālib. In Surah al-Shu‘ara’, it says: “And the lowest follow you,” meaning the lowly people. Ikrimah said: “The weavers and the cobblers.”
“Acting on first impression”: Abu Amr read it as bādiʾ, with a hamzah, meaning, “at the outset of opinion.” They meant that these people followed you at first glance, without careful consideration or reflection; had they reflected, they would not have followed you. The others read it without a hamzah, meaning, “the outward appearance of opinion,” from the expression, “a thing became apparent,” when it becomes visible. Its meaning is: they followed you outwardly, without considering and reflecting inwardly. Mujahid said: “What the eye sees.” “Nor do we see in you any superiority over us; rather, we think you are liars.”
Noah said, “O my people, have you considered: if I stand upon clear proof from my Lord”—that is, clarification from my Lord—“and He has granted me mercy”—that is, guidance and knowledge—“from Himself, but it has been obscured from you”—that is, hidden from you and confused for you. Hamzah, al-Kisa’i, and Hafs read it as fu‘ummiyat ‘alaykum, with the letter ‘ayn vowelled with dammah and the letter mim doubled, meaning that it was made ambiguous and obscured for you. “Shall we compel you to accept it”—that is, compel you to accept the clear proof and the mercy—“while you are averse to it,” not desiring it? Qatadah said: “Had the Prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, been able to compel [their people to believe, they would have compelled them] (1), but they were not able to do so.”
His statement, “O my people, I ask of you no wealth for this,” means: for the revelation and the conveyance of the message—an allusion to something not explicitly mentioned. “My reward” means: my recompense. “Is only with Allah. Nor will I drive away those who believe”: this indicates that they had asked him to drive the believers away. “Indeed, they will meet their Lord”—that is, [they will return to] (2) their Lord in the Hereafter, and He will requite whoever drove them away. “But I see that you are a people who act ignorantly.”