Overall meaning : The Almighty swears that He sent Noah to his people who said to them: I have come to warn you of Allah’s punishment if you worship other than Him and to plainly explain to you His commands and prohibitions, with which He has sent me to you. Worship none but Allah. I fear that if you do not worship Allah alone, he will inflict an agonising punishment on you on the Judgement Day. The unbelieving chiefs and notables among his people said to him, 'We see you only as a human being like ourselves, not an angel at all. How could you have received revelations but not us?! We also see that no one follows you except the lowliest among us, who do so hastily and without thinking; nor do we perceive any excellence and merit in you and your followers above us to follow you. In fact, we believe all of you are liars.’
'Tell me, my people,’ Noah said, 'if I have clear evidence from my Lord regarding what I have brought you, whereby truth is distinguished from falsehood, and He has favoured me with grace from Himself, namely prophethood and His message, and He has kept the truth hidden from you as punishment, can we compel you to accept it when you are averse to it? We cannot possibly do that; nonetheless, we leave this matter to Allah who will decide on it as He wills.’
'I do not ask you for money in return for calling you to worship Allah alone,’ Noah, peace be upon him, went on to say. 'My reward rests with none but Allah. Nor will I drive away the believers just because you look down on them, for they will surely meet their Lord on Judgement Day to repay them according to their deeds; but I can see that you are an ignorant people for asking me to repulse and drive away Allah’s servants. And were I to drive them away, my people, who would then protect me from Allah’s punishment? Will you not reflect and desist from your error and ignorance? I do not say to you that I possess Allah’s treasures, nor do I claim that I have knowledge of what is hidden; I do not claim to be an angel, nor do I say to the poor believers you disdain and hold in contempt that Allah will not reward them for their faith—Allah alone knows best what is in their hearts. Were I to say so, I would indeed be among the wrongdoers, who wrong themselves and others.’