تِلْكَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآئِهَا ۚ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ فَمَا كَانُوا۟ لِيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِمَا كَذَّبُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَطْبَعُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
3:185; 5:33.
Commentary:
The word القری (the towns) again refers here to ancient towns fallen into ruin. The Quran reverts to their mention in order to emphasize the seriousness of a Prophet’s rejection and to introduce the narration of yet another by-gone people, the rejecters of Moses.
By using the words, some of whose news, the verse makes it clear that the Quran has not given the entire history of by-gone peoples but only the relevant parts of it. Nevertheless, no book of history contains more reliable information about the peoples of ‘Ad and Thamud than does the Quran, and students of history have admitted that what the Quran tells us is the only authentic and reliable knowledge that we possess about these ancient peoples, and all other stories current about them may be only so many myths. As regards Lot, later Jewish writers have admitted that he was a Prophet of God, as the Quran represents him to be, though the Bible does not seem to accord him this rank.
The verse hints that as the Holy Prophet represents in his person all the Prophets that have gone before him, therefore his rejecters will be visited with all the various forms of punishment that befell the rejecters of former Prophets.
The opponents of God’s Prophets are in the habit of rejecting their claims on the basis of mere hearsay and make-believe. The result of such a hasty rejection is that the hearts of the rejecters become sealed and they become deprived of the power to understand the arguments and signs which God shows to establish the truth of His Messengers. The verse thus throws light on how the hearts or minds of disbelievers are sealed. They are sealed only when disbelievers refuse to make use of their God-given power of reasoning and understanding.
3:185; 5:33.
The Qur’an does not give the entire history of bygone peoples but only the relevant parts of it. Nevertheless, no book of history contains more reliable information about the tribes of ‘Ad and Thamud than does the Qur’an, and students of history have admitted that what the Qur’an tells us is the only authentic and reliable information that we possess about these ancient peoples and all other stories current about them are so many myths.
The hearts of disbelievers are sealed up when they refuse to make use of their God-given power of reasoning and understanding.