a town to which the signs came and which We destroyed; We destroyed them because of their denial. So, if a sign were to come to these people, would they believe? Its meaning is that those earlier people did not believe in the signs when they came to them; so will these people believe?
“We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of earlier Scripture if you do not know. (7) We did not make them bodies that did not eat food, nor were they immortal. (8) Then We fulfilled for them Our promise: We saved them, along with whomever We willed, and We destroyed those who exceeded all bounds. (9) We have certainly sent down to you a Book in which lies your honor. Will you not then understand?” (10)
His saying, exalted is He, “We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed,” is a response to their saying, “Is this anything but a human being like yourselves?” That is, We did not send angels to the earlier peoples; rather, We sent men to whom We revealed. “So ask the people of earlier Scripture”: that is, the people of the Torah and the Gospel—meaning the scholars among the People of the Book—for they do not deny that the messengers were human beings, even though they deny the prophethood of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. The polytheists were commanded to ask them because they were more likely to accept the testimony of those who did not believe in the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, than to accept that of those who believed in him.
Ibn Zayd said: By “the Scripture” He meant the Quran. (1) That is, ask the knowledgeable believers among the people of the Quran, if you do not know.
“We did not make them”—that is, the messengers—“bodies.” He did not say “bodies” in the plural, because it is a collective noun. “That did not eat food”: this refutes their saying, “What is the matter with this messenger, that he eats food?” (Surah al-Furqan 25:7). He is saying: We did not make the messengers angels; rather, We made them human beings who ate food. “Nor were they immortal” in this world.
“Then We fulfilled for them the promise” which We had made to them concerning the destruction of their enemies. “We saved them, along with whomever We willed”: that is, We saved the believers who affirmed them. “And We destroyed those who exceeded all bounds”: that is, the polytheists who denied them. Every polytheist exceeds all bounds against his own soul.
“We have certainly sent down to you a Book,” O assembly of Quraysh, “in which lies your honor”: that is, your distinction, as He said, “It is truly an honor for you and your people” (Surah al-Zukhruf 43:44). It is an honor for whoever believes in it.
Mujahid said: “Your account is in it.” Al-Hasan said: “In it lies your reminder”—that is, the mention of what you need concerning the affairs of your religion. “Will you not then understand?”