So the eminent among those who disbelieved from his people said, "We do not see you but as a man like ourselves, and we do not see you followed except by those who are the lowest of us [and] at first suggestion.1 And we do not see in you over us any merit; rather, we think you are liars."
The nobility and leaders of Noah’s people said that they would not respond to his call, saying that he was no better than them, being a man like them, and that they only saw the least important people among them following him straightaway upon a simple suggestion, without considering carefully or examining the situation. They said that the believers were not more noble or wealthy than them, nor did they have a higher rank than them, which might make them worthy of being followed by them; rather, they considered them to be lying in their claims.