فَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنۡهُمۡ وَقَالَ یَـٰقَوۡمِ لَقَدۡ أَبۡلَغۡتُكُمۡ رِسَـٰلَـٰتِ رَبِّی وَنَصَحۡتُ لَكُمۡۖ فَكَیۡفَ ءَاسَىٰ عَلَىٰ قَوۡمࣲ كَـٰفِرِینَ
And he turned away from them and said, "O my people, I had certainly conveyed to you the messages of my Lord and advised you, so how could I grieve for a disbelieving people?"
يَقَوْمِ لَقَدْ أَبْلَغْتُكُمْ رِسَـلَـتِ رَبِّى وَنَصَحْتُ لَكُمْ
("O my people! I have indeed conveyed my Lord's Messages unto you and I have given you good advice.") Shu`ayb said, I have conveyed to you what I was sent with, so I will not feel any sorrow for you since you disbelieved in what I brought you,
فَكَيْفَ ءَاسَى عَلَى قَوْمٍ كَـفِرِينَ
("Then how can I grieve over pepple who are disbelievers")
In the sixth (93) verse, it was said: فَتَوَلَّىٰ عَنْهُمْ (So, he turned away from them). It means that, with punishment for his people in sight, Sayyidna Shu'aib (علیہ السلام) and his believing companions moved away from there. The majority of commentators says that these blessed souls left this place for Makkah al-Mu` azzamah where they stayed till the end.
It was his total disappointment with his people neck-deep in disobedience and contumacy which prompted him to pray that they be chastened. But, when the actual punishment came as a result of it, his heart pinched because of his prophetic concern and affection for them. Then, it was for the peace of his own heart that he said addressing his people: ` 0 my people, I have surely delivered to you the messages of my Lord, and wished you betterment. How, then, should I grieve over a disbelieving people?'
According to the tradition (of the Prophet), a believer goes on getting into difficulties until he becomes clear of sins, and a hypocrite is like a donkey who does not know why his owner has tied him and why he has let him loose. (Tafsir ibn Kathir). God imposes various types of difficulties on man so that his heart may soften, he may give up his reliance on anything other than God, and his haughtiness—which prevents him from accepting the Truth from outside may diminish. In this way, by God’s arrangements, the psychology of shortcomings and helplessness is instilled in man, so that he may give his full attention to the voice of Truth. The general public as well as the prophet’s addressees undergo this treatment. However, according to the usual procedure of God, all this happens garbed in doubt. For example, if some trouble affects somebody, it does so as part of the cause-and-effect process. This sort of occurrence poses a test for many people. They ignore it, saying that this was bound to happen and it happened. When they do not learn a lesson from these difficulties, God changes their conditions for the better. Now such people are pushed towards more severe misunderstandings. They firmly believe this to be a part of the occurrences of the time; a matter of the usual ups and downs which people are subjected to, under normal conditions; otherwise they would not have experienced good days after bad days. So they are thus prevented from learning a lesson from the first set of circumstances as well as from the second set. To be blessed with progress even after being guilty of arrogance is very dangerous. It is a sign of the fact that God has decided to catch hold of the culprit at the point where he has become most fearless of God’s punishment. The real reward of a God-fearing life will come in the Hereafter. However, if God wishes, He gives the initial reward in this world also in the shape of well-being and respect.