THE PEOPLE of Noah [too] gave the lie to [one of God's] message-bearers (26:106) when

their brother Noah said unto them: "Will you not be conscious of God? (26: 107) Behold, I am

an apostle [sent by Him] to you, [and therefore] worthy of your trust:

(26:108) be, then, conscious of God, and pay heed unto me!

26:109 "And no reward whatever do I ask of you for it: my reward rests with none but the Sustainer of all the worlds.

(26: 110) Hence, remain conscious of God, and pay heed unto me! "

(26: 111) They answered: "Shall we place our faith in thee, even though [only] the most abject [of people] follow thee?" 49

(26:112) Said he: "And what knowledge could I have as to what they were doing [before they came to me]?

(26:113) Their reckoning rests with none but my Sustainer: if you could but understand [this]! 50 (26:114) Hence, I shall not drive away [any of those [who profess to be] believers;

(26: 1 15) I am nothing but a plain warner."

[[ Asad’s notes - 49 See note 47 on 1 1 :27.

11:27 But the great ones among his people, who refused to acknowledge the truth, answered: "We do not see in thee anything but a mortal man like ourselves; and we do not see that any follow thee save those who are quite obviously the most abject among us; 47 and we do not see that you could be in any way superior to us: 48 on the contrary, we think that you are liars!"

Note - 47 As is evidenced by the histories of all the prophets - and particularly that of Jesus and, after him, of Muhammad - most of their early followers belonged to the lowest classes of society - the slaves, the poor and the oppressed - to whom the divine message gave the promise of an equitable social order on earth and the hope of happiness in the hereafter: and it is precisely this revolutionary character of every prophet's mission that has always made it so distasteful to the upholders of the established order and the privileged classes of the society concerned.

48 Lit., "We do not see in you any superiority [or "merit"] over us." ]]