وَما نُرسِلُ المُرسَلينَ إِلّا مُبَشِّرينَ وَمُنذِرينَ ۚ وَيُجادِلُ الَّذينَ كَفَروا بِالباطِلِ لِيُدحِضوا بِهِ الحَقَّ ۖ وَاتَّخَذوا آياتي وَما أُنذِروا هُزُوًا

We do not send the apostles except as bearers of good news and as warners, but those who are faithless dispute fallaciously to refute thereby the truth, having taken My signs and what they are warned of in derision.

EXEGESIS

Mubashshirīn (bearers of good news) comes from bishārah, which literally means to give good news to someone in a way that their joy becomes visible on the skin (basharah) of their face. The word bashar refers to man, because his skin is visible,^{‎[1]Tibyan, 7/61.} unlike animals whose skin is coated by wool, hair, or feather.

Bil-bāṭil (fallaciously): bāṭil means falsehood, something which is contrary to the truth. So, arguing bil-bāṭil means arguing based on false, void, and untrue premises.

Yudḥiḍū (refute) comes from daḥḍ, a place that is slippery on which ‘neither foot nor hoof can find footing’. From this comes idḥāḍ, meaning to take something towards destruction.^{‎[2]Tibyan, 7/61; Tabari, 15/174.} The usage here is figurative, comparing their arguments to a slippery slope, trying to destroy and distort the truth.

Huzuw (derision): taking something as huzuw is to make it the subject of mockery and ridicule.^{‎[3]Tibyan, 7/62.}

EXPOSITION

Since the previous verses spoke of the disputatious attitude of some people, who would not believe until punishment comes to them, God then comforts and consoles His Messenger that his duty is naught but to deliver the message, and he cannot compel such people to believe, nor convince them through argumentation, similar to verse 6.^{‎[4]Mizan, 13/332.} It also explains that the role of a prophet is not to fulfil silly requests for miracles put forward to him by his people, or foolish ones such as an invitation of destruction upon oneself.^{‎[5]Furqan, 18/129.}

We do not send the apostles except as bearers of good news and as warners: the role of the prophets is to give good news of paradise to people if they believe and obey, and warn them of hell if they deny and disobey.^{‎[6]Tibyan, 7/61.} The term except as limits the role of the prophets to bearers of good news and as warners, meaning that they cannot force anyone to believe, but to only deliver the message; it is up to the recipient to accept or deny, and you are not one to compel them. So admonish by the Quran those who fear My threat (50:45).^{‎[7]See also verses such as 28:56, 10:43, 43:40, 5:99, 16:82, 29:18, 64:12, and 2:256.} Naturally, a prophet’s role as a deliverer of the message generally also entailed things such as being an exemplar (33:21), teaching and explaining the meaning of the revelation (16:44), being a leader of their society (4:59), and so on. This is all part of delivering the good news and giving warning in a complete fashion.

But those who are faithless dispute fallaciously to refute thereby the truth: once the divine message and truth has been delivered to a person in a complete manner, any arguments and criticisms brought forth are only bāṭil (falsehood). This is also why the term yudḥiḍū is used, because their arguments come after the truth has been firmly established.^{‎[8]See also Furqan, 18/129.}

The Quran relates some of these fallacious arguments in other verses, such as their assertion that the Prophet should have such miracles that they themselves dictate (17:90-93, 43:53), or that they should choose who can be the messenger (43:31), or that their religion is right because it is the religion of their forefathers (2:170), or that bringing back the dead is impossible since they have turned into dust (36:78), or that Prophet Muhammad (s) was being taught the revelation by another person (16:103), or that he was insane, or a magician, and so on.^{‎[9]See also Tibyan, 7/61.}

This also relates to what was discussed in the Introduction of the questions asked from the Prophet about the People of the Cave, the spirit, and Dhū al-Qarnayn, in an effort to disprove his prophethood.^{‎[10]Tabrisi, 15/174.}

Having taken My signs and what they are warned of in derision: as they are unable to bring satisfactory counter-arguments to the truth of the Quran, they would then resort to another means, which is to make mockery and derision,^{‎[11]Mudarrisi, 6/438.} in an attempt to derail any meaningful discussion (as also indicated by the term yudḥiḍū). When something is made light of, people will feel there is no longer any need to take it seriously or engage with it intellectually.

[1] Tibyan, 7/61.
[2] Tibyan, 7/61; Tabari, 15/174.
[3] Tibyan, 7/62.
[4] Mizan, 13/332.
[5] Furqan, 18/129.
[6] Tibyan, 7/61.
[7] See also verses such as 28:56, 10:43, 43:40, 5:99, 16:82, 29:18, 64:12, and 2:256.
[8] See also Furqan, 18/129.
[9] See also Tibyan, 7/61.
[10] Tabrisi, 15/174.
[11] Mudarrisi, 6/438.