قَالُوا طَائِرُكُمْ مَعَكُمْ ۚ أَئِنْ ذُكِّرْتُمْ ۚ بَلْ أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ مُسْرِفُونَ
They said, 'Your bad omen lies with yourselves! Is it because you have been reminded that you react like this? Rather, you are people who have gone beyond all bounds'
In answer to the accusation of being an evil omen, the messengers say: “Your bad omen lies with yourselves.” The deeper cause of the people's troubles is not the arrival of the messengers but their own condition: rejecting the truth, clinging to false beliefs and continuing down the path they have chosen.
By using the very language of the accusation, the messengers return attention to the real problem. The people should fear not the coming of those who speak the truth, but their own rejection of truth and attachment to falsehood. Instead of blaming others for their misfortune, they need to reconsider their beliefs and conduct.
The question “Is it because you have been reminded?” is a reproach: do you treat the messengers as an evil omen and threaten them simply because someone has reminded you of the truth? The conditional reply is left unspoken, since the earlier statements already reveal the shameful reaction being criticised.
The messengers then move beyond the superstition with the words “Rather, you are people who have gone beyond all bounds.” Israf here is not merely wasteful spending or excessive consumption; it refers to exceeding the limits of truth and right conduct. The people have gone too far in rejecting the message, clinging to falsehood and threatening those who wish them well.
The essential lesson is a return to personal responsibility. Someone who always locates the cause of their problems in other people or bad luck may never face the part played by their own beliefs and choices. Change begins when we stop sheltering behind superstition and accept responsibility for our conduct.