وَلَقَدِ اخْتَرْنَاهُمْ عَلَى عِلْمٍ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿۳۲﴾ وَآتَيْنَاهُمْ مِنَ الْآيَاتِ مَا فِيهِ بَلَاءٌ مُبِينٌ ﴿۳۳﴾ إِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ لَيَقُولُونَ ﴿۳۴﴾ إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا مَوْتَتُنَا الْأُولَى وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُنْشَرِينَ ﴿۳۵﴾ فَأْتُوا بِآبَائِنَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ﴿۳۶﴾ أَهُمْ خَيْرٌ أَمْ قَوْمُ تُبَّعٍ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ أَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا مُجْرِمِينَ ﴿۳۷﴾

﴾32﴿ Wa laqadikh tarnaahum 'alaa 'ilmin 'alal 'aalameen
﴾33﴿ Wa aatainaahum minal aayaati maa feehi balaaa'um mubeen
﴾34﴿ Inna haaa'ulaaa'i la yaqooloon
﴾35﴿ In hiya illaa mawtatunal oolaa wa maa nahnu bimun shareen
﴾36﴿ Fa'too bi aabaaa'inaaa inkuntum saadiqeen
﴾37﴿ Ahum khayrun am qawmu Tubba'inw wallazeena min qablihim; ahlaknaahum innahum kaanoo mujrimeen

﴾32﴿ And surely We chose them knowingly over the worlds
﴾33﴿ And We gave them of blessings wherein there was a clear trial
﴾34﴿ Surely these people indeed say
﴾35﴿ There is nothing but our first death, and we will not be resurrected
﴾36﴿ So bring back our forefathers if you are truthful
﴾37﴿ Are they better or the people of Tubba‘ and those before them? We destroyed them; indeed, they were criminals

[32] This is the mention of the second blessing upon the Children of Israel. This is a partial virtue over all people, as many prophets were sent among the Children of Israel — or it refers to the people of that particular time.
(عَلَى عِلْمٍ) means that Allah, the Exalted, knew that they were deserving of this virtue at that time — or despite Allah’s knowledge of their shortcomings, He still granted them this favor.
[33] This is the mention of another blessing, and the meaning of “signs” (آیات) here refers to miracles and unimaginable blessings, some of which have been mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah.
[34,35,36] This refers to the ninth point — just as they are in doubt about monotheism and prophethood, they also deny resurrection after death. In this, there is a rebuke for their denial of resurrection.
(إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا مَوْتَتُنَا الْأُولَى) — their statements of denial were many, which is why a pause is made at “يقولون”, but their main claim is this:
The correct interpretation is that the pronoun “هي” refers to their condition, state, or final outcome. So, the meaning is: “Our condition or final state is nothing but our first death, and after that, there is no life.” The word “أولى” does not necessarily imply that there is a second death.
Alternatively, the meaning may be that it was said to them: “You will die a death after which there is life,” just as a similar event has already occurred to you — as mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:28). In response, they said: “That death after which there is life is only our first death.”
According to this interpretation, the pronoun refers to death, but with the specific condition that it is a death after which life follows.
(فَأْتُوا بِآبَائِنَا) — this is the argument of the deniers, and there are two interpretations of it:
1. “Bring our forefathers back to life,” as mentioned in Surah Al-Jathiyah (45:25).
2. “Present the statements and reasoning of our forefathers about resurrection; we accept our ancestors’ opinions as proof.”
[37] This is a refutation of their denial through a method of warning, and the example used to initiate this warning is the people of Tubba‘. The indication is that the last nation to be destroyed was the people of Tubba‘ — or because they were very close in time and place to the Arab polytheists.
(أَمْ قَوْمُ تُبَّعٍ) — the preference or superiority here refers to greater wealth, numbers, blessings, and worldly honor.
Regarding Tubba‘, there are two views among the commentators:
1. All the kings of Yemen are meant, since each one was called “Tubba‘,” just as every Islamic ruler is called “Khalifah.”
2. He was a specific king among them, named As‘ad Abu Karib Al-Himyari. It is narrated from Qatadah that he used to worship fire, as did his people. However, he accepted Islam and invited his people to Islam, but they opposed him. Consequently, punishment came upon them, and he was saved. He had two daughters who also accepted monotheism, and they too were saved.