“No sign comes to them from the signs of their Lord except that they turn away from it. (4) They have indeed denied the truth when it came to them; but there will come to them the news of that which they used to ridicule. (5) Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them, whom We established in the earth more firmly than We have established you, and upon whom We sent abundant rain from the sky, and for whom We made rivers flow beneath them? Then We destroyed them for their sins and raised up after them another generation. (6) And if We had sent down to you a written scripture on parchment, and they had touched it with their hands, those who disbelieved would surely have said, ‘This is nothing but manifest magic.’ (7)”

“No sign comes to them” refers to the people of Mecca; “from the signs of their Lord” means such as the splitting of the moon and other signs. ‘Ata’ said that it refers to the signs of the Quran. “Except that they turn away from it” means that they abandon and deny it.

“They have indeed denied the truth” means the Quran. It was also said that it means Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. “When it came to them; but there will come to them the news of that which they used to ridicule” means: the account of their mockery and its recompense. That is, they will know the outcome of 116\a their mockery when they are punished.

Regarding His saying, exalted is He, “Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them”: this refers to the nations of the past. A generation is a group of people; its plural is generations. It was also said that a generation is a period of time: eighty years, it has been said; sixty years; forty years; or thirty years. It is also said to be one hundred years, based on the report that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to ‘Abdullah ibn Busr al-Mazini, “You will live a century,” and he lived for one hundred years. (1)

According to these views, the meaning is: how many people of a generation We destroyed before them. “Whom We established in the earth more firmly than We have established you” means: We gave them what We have not given you. Ibn ‘Abbas said: We granted them respite in life, like the people of Noah, ‘Ad, and Thamud. In Arabic, both formulations, makkantuhu and makkantu lahu, are used.

“And upon whom We sent abundant rain from the sky” means rain. The word is an intensive mif‘al form, derived from darr (abundant flow). Ibn ‘Abbas said that “abundant” means continuous rain falling at times of need.

The words, “more firmly than We have established you,” are an instance of a shift in grammatical person: the discourse moves from the narrative in “Have they not seen” to direct address, just as in His saying, “Until, when you are aboard ships and they sail with them” [Jonah, 22].

The grammarians of Basra said: He first spoke of them in the third person in His saying, “Have they not seen,” while Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his Companions were among them; then He addressed them directly along with them. The Arabs say, “I said of ‘Abdullah, ‘How noble he is!’” and, “I said to ‘Abdullah, ‘How noble you are!’”

“And We made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and raised up”: that is, We created and brought into being “after them another generation.”