56 Preface وَما نُرسِلُ المُرسَلينَ إِلّا مُبَشِّرينَ وَمُنذِرينَ ۚ وَيُجادِلُ الَّذينَ كَفَروا بِالباطِلِ لِيُدحِضوا بِهِ الحَقَّ ۖ وَاتَّخَذوا آياتي وَما أُنذِروا هُزُوًاYusuf AliWe only send the messengers to give Glad Tidings and to give warnings:1 But the unbelievers dispute with vain argument, in order therewith to weaken the truth, and they treat My Signs as a jest, as also the fact that they are warned!The Prophets of God are not sent to humour us with dialectics or satisfy the vulgar curiosity for miracles of dark unusual things. There is no “crookedness” (18:1) in their preaching. They come to preach the Truth-not in an abstract way, but with special reference to our conduct. They give us the good news of salvation lest we despair in the presence of Sin, and to warn us clearly of the dangers of Evil. Vain controversies about words only weaken their mission, or turn it into ridicule. The ungodly have a trick also of treating the earnest preaching to them itself as a jest and ridicule it. (R).