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wa-kadhdhaba lladhīna min qablihim wa-mā balaghū miʿshāra mā ʾātaynāhum fa-kadhdhabū rusulī fa-kayfa kāna nakīri
Those who were before them had also denied—and these have not attained one-tenth of what We had given them—they impugned My apostles, so how was My rebuttal!
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah As-Saba- Verse 45
45. “And those before them rejected (the messengers) and these have not yet attained a tenth of what We had given them but they belied My apostles; so (see) how was My punishment (unto them)!”
Relying on their wealth and power, pagans used to deny the Truth, and Allah said that their wealth, comparing that of others, is not a tenth of it. So, this verse has threatened that disobedient group by some effective and expressive words, and says:
But you can see what kind of fate they had! The verse continues saying:
Their ruined cities, destroyed because of the Divine punishment, are near to you alongside your way toward Syria. You may take them as a lesson, and hearken the necessary admonitions from the tongue of these ruins and guess your fate according to them, because neither the way of treatment of Allah (s.w.t.) is changeable nor is your state higher than theirs. The Arabic word /mi‘šar/ is derived from /‘ušr/ and it is in the same meaning, one tenth.
Some commentators have taken it with the sense of one-hundredth, but many Arabic dictionaries and commentaries have mentioned the first meaning for it. But, however, these kinds of figures do not refer to the number and they are used to show scantiness in comparison with the figures like: seven, seventy, one thousand, and the like which are used to show multiplicity. Therefore, the concept of the verse is that Allah has vanished some powerful haughty persons that comparing them these people have not even a small part of their power.
Similar to this meaning is said in other different verses of the Qur’an, including Surah Al-’An‘am, No. 6, verse 6 which says:
Again, the like of this very meaning is mentioned in Surah Al-Mu’min, No. 40, verse 21; and in Surah Ar-Room, No. 30, verse 9, too. The Qur’anic word /nakir/ is derived from /’inkar/ in the same sense, and the purpose of denying Allah is the denial of His punishment.