(112–113) “Allah sets forth the example of a town that was secure and tranquil, with its provision coming to it abundantly from every place. Yet it was ungrateful for Allah’s blessings, so Allah made it taste the garment of hunger and fear because of what its people used to do. A messenger from among them had indeed come to them, but they rejected him; therefore, the punishment seized them while they were wrongdoers.”

This town was honored Mecca. It was secure and tranquil, and no one was molested there. Even the ignorant people of the pre-Islamic era held it sacred: one of them might encounter the man who had killed his father or brother, yet he would not harm him, despite their intense tribal zeal and Arab fervor. It thus enjoyed a degree of complete security granted to no other town, as well as abundant provision.

It was a town with neither crops nor trees, but Allah facilitated its provision, which came to it from every place. Then a messenger from among them came to them, whose trustworthiness and truthfulness they knew. He called them to the most perfect ways and forbade them from evil things, but they rejected him and were ungrateful for Allah’s blessing upon them. Allah therefore made them taste the opposite of what they had enjoyed and clothed them in the garment of hunger, the opposite of abundance, and fear, the opposite of security. This was because of their conduct, disbelief, and failure to give thanks: “Allah did not wrong them, but they were wronging themselves.”