وَلَقَدِ اسْتُهْزِئَ بِرُسُلٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فَحَاقَ بِالَّذِينَ سَخِرُوا مِنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ ﴿۴۱﴾ قُلْ مَنْ يَكْلَؤُكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ مِنَ الرَّحْمَنِ بَلْ هُمْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ رَبِّهِمْ مُعْرِضُونَ ﴿۴۲﴾ أَمْ لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ تَمْنَعُهُمْ مِنْ دُونِنَا لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ مِنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ ﴿۴۳﴾ بَلْ مَتَّعْنَا هَؤُلَاءِ وَآبَاءَهُمْ حَتَّى طَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْعُمُرُ أَفَلَا يَرَوْنَ أَنَّا نَأْتِي الْأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا أَفَهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ ﴿۴۴﴾

﴾41﴿ Wa laqadis tuhzi'a bi-Rusulim min qablika fahaaqa billazeena sakhiroo minhum maa kaanoo bihee yastahzi'oon
﴾42﴿ Qul mai yakla 'ukum billaili wannahaari minar Rahmaan; bal hum 'an zikri Rabbihim mu'ridoon
﴾43﴿ Am lahum aalihatun tamna'uhum min dooninaa; laa yastatee'oona nasra anfusihim wa laa hum minna yus-haboon
﴾44﴿ Bal matta'naa haaa'ulaaa'i wa aabaaa'ahum hattaa taala 'alaihimul 'umur; afalaa yarawna anna na'til arda nanqusuhaa min atraafihaa; afahumul ghaaliboon

﴾41﴿ And indeed, many messengers before you were mocked, but those who mocked them were enveloped by the very punishment they used to ridicule
﴾42﴿ Say, "Who guards you by night and by day from the punishment of the Most Merciful?" Yet they turn away from the remembrance of their Lord
﴾43﴿ Do they have deities besides Us who can protect them? They are unable to help even themselves, nor can they be shielded from Us
﴾44﴿ Rather, We granted them and their forefathers enjoyment in the worldly life until their lives were prolonged. Do they not see that We come to their land, reducing it from its borders? Are they then the ones who will prevail

[41] In this verse, there is a reprimand concerning the mockery of the messengers and a consolation for the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace).
Something similar has already appeared in Surah Al-An‘am (6), and in Surah Ar-Ra‘d (32) with slight variation.
[42] In the last sentence of this verse, there is a reprimand for turning away from Tawheed and the Qur'an, along with the statement that no one can save from the punishment of Allah the Exalted.
Minar-Rahmān means “from the punishment of the Most Merciful.”
The second meaning is that min sometimes comes in the sense of substitution or replacement—like in Surah Az-Zukhruf (60)—meaning “in place of the Most Merciful.” This interpretation has been mentioned by Ibn Kathir, although he has interpreted the concept of substitution differently.
[43] This is an explanation of yakla'ukum (who protects you), posed in the form of rhetorical questioning—meaning, your deities are not capable of protecting you.
It is again a refutation of shirk by negating any power of the idols in managing affairs.
The second sentence serves as the reason for the first. The pronoun in lā yastaṭī'ūna and anfusahum refers to the false deities.
The second pronoun hum can refer either to the polytheists or to the false deities.
Yuṣḥabūn has two possible meanings:
1. They are not given protection from Our punishment (in this case, the pronoun refers to the polytheists).
2. They are not accompanied with any support or assistance (meaning, the false deities cannot help); in this case, the pronoun refers to the idols.
[44] In this verse, the reason for their mockery and denial is mentioned—that despite associating partners with Allah and denying the Messenger, they were given many worldly blessings, and much of their lives were spent in shirk and worldly pleasures.
As a result of this heedlessness, they fell into mocking the messengers.
Afalā yarawn (Do they not see?): This is a warning directed at the deniers.
The intended meaning is that Allah the Exalted is gradually granting dominance and authority to His Messenger (May Allah bless him and give him peace) and to Islam over their domain, or that punishment is gradually descending upon their dominion—so they will never prevail.
Something similar appears in Surah Ar-Ra‘d (41), and the explanation of this verse is found in Surah Al-Aḥqāf (37).