﴿ وَكَذَّبَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَمَا بَلَغُوا۟ مِعْشَارَ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمْ فَكَذَّبُوا۟ رُسُلِى ۖ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ ﴾

“Thus, too, gave the lie to the truth [many of] those who lived before them; and although those [earlier people] had not attained to even a tenth of [the evidence of the truth] which We have vouch­safed unto these [late successors of theirs], yet when they gave the lie to My apostles, how awesome was My rejection!”

Commentary The word: مِعْشَارَ‌ (mi'shar) in verse 45: وَمَا بَلَغُوا مِعْشَارَ‌ مَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ (while these (infidels of Makkah) have not reached even one tenth of what We gave to those (before them) has been taken to mean: عُشُر ('ushr: a tenth) by some early commentators. Some scholars have interpreted it as: عُشرُ العُشر (ushr-ul-` ushr: a hundredth) while others call it: عُشرُ العَشِیر (` ushr-ul ` ashir: a thousandth). Obviously, the later has a higher degree of exaggeration as compared to 'ushr or ten. The sense of the verse is that not even a tenth, rather a thousandth, of the worldly wealth, power, blessings of age and health given to earlier communities was received by the people of Makkah. Therefore, they should take lesson from what happened to past communities and the evil end they faced. These were people who invited upon themselves the wrath of Allah when they rejected prophets and messengers and, consequently, when came the actual punishment, their power, bravery, wealth and fortified fortresses could do nothing for them.