أَكُفَّارُكُمْ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكُمْ أَمْ لَكُم بَرَآءَةٌ فِى ٱلزُّبُرِ
Akuffaarukum khairum min ulaaa'ikum am lakum baraaa'atun fiz Zubur
‘Are your disbelievers any better than these? Were you given an exemption in the Scripture?’
Are those of you who deny the truth better than these, or do you have some exemption in the scriptures?
Five destroyed peoples have just gone past, each with the same refrain between them: Nuh's, ʿAd, Thamud, Lut's, Pharaoh's. At this line the recital stops and the audience is asked where it stands in the list. Barā'a is a legal term for release from liability, and zubur means written pages, so the question is whether anyone holds a discharge in writing.