( ولو أن أهل القرى آمنوا واتقوا لفتحنا عليهم بركات من السماء والأرض ) يعني : المطر من السماء والنبات من الأرض . وأصل البركة : المواظبة على الشيء ، أي : تابعنا عليهم المطر والنبات ورفعنا عنهم القحط والجدب ، ( ولكن كذبوا فأخذناهم بما كانوا يكسبون ) من الأعمال الخبيثة .
If the people of the towns and cities which Allah sent His messengers to had believed in what their messengers brought them, and had been mindful of their Lord, leaving their disbelief and disobedience and following His commands, then Allah would have opened the doors of goodness upon them in every way; but they did not believe and were not mindful of Him. Instead they rejected what their prophets came with. So Allah overtook them with the punishment suddenly because of what they had earned through their sins and disobedience.