Commentary on Tafsir al-Jalalayn: ((And We had no authority over you)) power and might to compel you to follow us ((but you were a people who transgressed))
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His saying [As-Saffat 37:30] The author (may Allah have mercy on him) means: of power and might to compel you to follow us. Know that sultan means authority, and it is understood according to its context in each instance. Sometimes sultan refers to knowledge, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted [An-Najm 53:23] meaning: of any proof or evidence. And sometimes it refers to power, strength, and dominance, as in this verse, meaning: We have no authority over you to compel you to follow us. Rather, you followed us by your own choice and will. So it is as if they are saying: Do not blame us, but blame yourselves. Just as Shaytan said when the matter was decided: [Ibrahim:22]. These leaders place all the blame on the followers. But when we look at reality, we find that the blame falls on both the followers and the leaders. As for the leaders, they made their deeds attractive to them, called them to it, took advantage of their weakness, and deceived them until they inclined them toward falsehood. As for the followers, they were not forced to do it, nor were they coerced; rather, they are the ones who followed this by their own choice. So each one of them bears a share of the blame commensurate with his action.
[As-Saffat 37:30] astray like us. Rather, this is a transitional shift (idrab), not a negation of what came before, but a transition from one thing to another. So they repeated it to them. They said first: "But you were not believers." And they said second: "But you were a people who transgressed." The one who transgresses is the one who exceeds his limit, as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Haqqah 69:11] meaning: when he exceeded his limit. So they describe them as transgressors, meaning those who have exceeded the limit they should have been upon, which is following the messengers, not following these misguiders. The author's saying "astray" is questionable, because transgression is an additional matter beyond being astray. The correct meaning of transgression is: what? Those who have exceeded the limit they should have been upon, which is following the messengers.