The Quran

وَيا قَومِ لا أَسأَلُكُم عَلَيهِ مالًا ۖ إِن أَجرِيَ إِلّا عَلَى اللَّهِ ۚ وَما أَنا بِطارِدِ الَّذينَ آمَنوا ۚ إِنَّهُم مُلاقو رَبِّهِم وَلٰكِنّي أَراكُم قَومًا تَجهَلونَ

Muhammad Asad

"And, O my people, no benefit do I ask of you for this [message]: my reward rests with none but God. And I shall not repulse [any of] those who have attained to faith.¹ Verily, they [know that they] are destined to meet their Sustainer, whereas in you I see people without any awareness [of right and wrong]!

This is an allusion to the contemptuous statement of the unbelievers (in verse 27 above) that the followers of Noah were to be found only among the lowest classes of their society - thus indirectly implying that they might perhaps lend ear to Noah if he would but rid himself of those people (cf. 26:111). The Prophet Muhammad had, during the early years of his mission, a similar experience with the leaders of the pagan Quraysh; several Traditions to this effect are quoted by Ibn Kathir in his commentary on 6:52.