وَمَا كُنْتَ بِجَانِبِ الطُّورِ إِذْ نَادَيْنَا وَلَكِنْ رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ لِتُنْذِرَ قَوْمًا مَا أَتَاهُمْ مِنْ نَذِيرٍ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ ﴿۴۶﴾ وَلَوْلَا أَنْ تُصِيبَهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ فَيَقُولُوا رَبَّنَا لَوْلَا أَرْسَلْتَ إِلَيْنَا رَسُولًا فَنَتَّبِعَ آيَاتِكَ وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿۴۷﴾ فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ عِنْدِنَا قَالُوا لَوْلَا أُوتِيَ مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى أَوَلَمْ يَكْفُرُوا بِمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى مِنْ قَبْلُ قَالُوا سِحْرَانِ تَظَاهَرَا وَقَالُوا إِنَّا بِكُلٍّ كَافِرُونَ ﴿۴۸﴾

﴾46﴿ Wa maa kunta bijaanibit Toori iz naadainaa wa laakir rahmatam mir Rabbika litunzira qawmam maaa ataahum min nazeerim min qablika la'allahum yatazakkaroon
﴾47﴿ Wa law laaa an tuseebahum museebatum bimaa qaddamat aideehim fa yaqooloo Rabbanaa law laaa arsalta ilainaa Rasoolan fanattabi'a Aayaatika wa nakoona minal mu'mineen
﴾48﴿ Falammaa jaaa'ahumul haqqu min 'indinaa qaaloo law laa ootiya misla maaa ootiyaa Moosaa; awalam yakfuroo bimaaa ootiya Moosaa min qablu qaaloo sihraani tazaaharaa wa qaalooo innaa bikullin kaafiroon

﴾46﴿ And you were not on the side of Mount Sinai when We called out (to Moses, peace be upon him, with the Book), but We sent you as a mercy from your Lord to warn a people to whom no warner had come before you, that they might take heed
﴾47﴿ And if it had not been that a disaster might have struck them because of the deeds their hands had sent forth, they would have said, O our Lord, why did You not send us a messenger so we could have followed Your verses and been among the believers
﴾48﴿ So when the truth came to them from Us, they said, Why was not given to this [messenger] the same as was given to Moses, peace be upon him?" Did they not disbelieve in what had been given to Moses before, They said, These are two magicians who support each other. And they declared, Indeed, we disbelieve in both of them

[46] In this is the affirmation of the truthfulness of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), following from the story of Musa (peace be upon him). It serves as a proof based on the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) lack of presence during those events — meaning he was not there to witness them, yet he narrated the incidents truthfully, which shows that revelation was sent to him and he is indeed a true Prophet.
(And you were not on the western side) — this refers to the time of the first revelation to Musa (peace be upon him) during his return from Madyan to Egypt, which is mentioned in verse (30) of this Surah.
(And you were not among the witnesses) — this is a general negation, meaning he was not present at all. The mention of (generations) refers to many eras in which no Messenger came — a time of fatrah (gap), in which the need for a Messenger was greatly felt. Thus, the implied phrase is (So We sent you).
(Reciting to them Our verses) — the meaning is like a student reading before a teacher, indicating that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not live in Madyan to have learned these events from its people — the events related to Musa (peace be upon him) in Madyan.
(And you were not at the side of the Mount when We called out) — this refers to the moment when the Book was given to Musa (peace be upon him) at Mount Tur, meaning that even at that time, you were not present — yet We informed you of all this and made you a Messenger by Our mercy.
[47] This is the answer to the question: Why was it necessary to send a Messenger? Could punishment not have been sent upon them directly?
The answer lies in explaining the wisdom behind sending Messengers — which is to remove the people’s excuse. This is similar to what has been mentioned in Surah Taha (20:134) and Surah An-Nisa (4:165).
At the end of the verse, the phrase (when We sent you) is implied but not explicitly stated — meaning, We sent you so that no excuse would remain for the people.
[48] In this verse is a warning to the deniers of the Qur'an and the Messenger, and it is conveyed in two ways:
The first way of denial is that they said: Why is this Messenger not given miracles and a book all at once like Musa (peace be upon him)?
In response, the second way of their denial is referenced — and it relates to a specific incident. This incident was the meeting of a Jewish scholar with the Quraysh of Makkah. They asked him about this Prophet who claims prophethood, preaches monotheism, and declares that slaughtering and making vows in the name of anyone other than Allah is forbidden. They asked: What do you say about this?
The Jewish scholar replied: Such teachings are also found in our Book. Upon hearing this, the Quraysh became angry and rejected it. They said: Sih'rāni taẓāharā — meaning the Qur’an and the Torah are two sorceries that support each other.