"And certainly We have sent [messengers] before you among the sects of the former peoples," meaning: in the centuries; that is to say: the people of Noah and the rest of the nations, "and no messenger would come to them except that they were mocking him."
﴿وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فِي شيع الْأَوَّلين﴾ أَيْ: فِي قرنٍ؛ يَعْنِي: قَوْمَ نُوحٍ وَسَائِرَ الأُمَمِ ﴿وَمَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ رسولٍ إِلا كَانُوا بِهِ يستهزئون﴾
