Shall We then take away the Reminder (this Qur'an) from you, because you are a people excessive.
means, `do you think that We will forgive you and not punish you, when you do not do as you have been commanded?'
This was the view of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Abu Salih, Mujahid and As-Suddi, and was the view favored by Ibn Jarir.
أَفَنَضْرِبُ عَنكُمُ الذِّكْرَ صَفْحًا
Shall We then take away the Reminder (this Qur'an) from you?
Qatadah said,
"By Allah, if this Qur'an had been taken away when the first generations of this Ummah rejected it, they would have been doomed, but Allah by His mercy persisted in sending it and calling them to it for twenty years, or for as long as He willed."
What Qatadah said is very good, and his point is that Allah, by His grace and mercy towards His creation, did not stop calling them to the truth and to the wise Reminder, i.e., the Qur'an, even though they were heedless and turned away from it. Indeed, He sent it so that those who were decreed to be guided might be guided by it, and so that proof might be established against those who were decreed to be.
Consolation to the Prophet for the Disbelief of Quraysh
Then Allah consoles His Prophet for the disbelief of his people, and commands him to bear it with patience.
وَكَمْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن نَّبِيٍّ فِي الاَْوَّلِينَ