"And what prevented the people"—meaning: the polytheists—"from believing when the guidance came to them except that they said, 'Has Allah sent a human being as a messenger?'"—[reading it] as an interrogative; meaning: Allah has not sent a human being as a messenger, for had he been from the angels, we would have believed in him.
﴿وَمَا منع النَّاس﴾ يَعْنِي: الْمُشْرِكِينَ ﴿أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا إِذْ جَاءَهُمُ الْهُدَى إِلا أَنْ قَالُوا أبْعث الله بشرا رَسُولا﴾ (ل ١٩٠) عَلَى الِاسْتِفْهَامِ؛ أَيْ: لَمْ يَبْعَثِ اللَّهُ بَشَرًا رَسُولًا، فَلَوْ كَانَ من الْمَلَائِكَة لآمَنَّا بِهِ.
