Surah Ya-Sin, Ayah 19

إِنَّا تَطَيَّرْنَا بِكُمْ

(For us, we see an evil omen from you;) meaning, `we do not see in your faces any sign of good for our lives.' Qatadah said, "They were saying, `if something bad befalls us, it will be because of you."' Mujahid said, "They were saying: People like you never enter a town, but its people are punished."

لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهُواْ لَنَرْجُمَنَّكُمْ

(if you cease not, we will surely stone you,) Qatadah said, "By throwing stones at you."

وَلَيَمَسَّنَّكُمْ مِّنَّا عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(and a painful torment will touch you from us.) means, a severe punishment. Their Messengers said to them:

The sense of the statement: قَالُوا طَائِرُ‌كُم مَّعَكُمْ (They said, "Your bad omen deeds.' The word: طَایٔر (ta'ir) essentially denotes bad omen or misfortune and, on occasions, it is also used to refer to the effects of misfortune, that is, wretchedness. Here, this is what it means. (Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi)

The township referred to in these verses was perhaps a settlement in Egypt where two prophets, Moses and Aaron were sent to admonish the people. But they rejected both of them. Then, a third person from amongst their own community came forth to support the Prophets, but this angered His fellow-men so much that they threatened to stone him, if he did not stop. At all times, the bitterest pill for a man to swallow is the piece of advice which is not to his liking. He flares up as soon as he hears it. Consequently, he cannot consider it with a balanced mind and does not assess it in the light of reason. Swayed by obstinacy and hatred, he goes on saying irrelevant things against it. Making assessments in the light of reason is to remain within reasonable limits but irrational opposition amounts to transgressing those limits.