Then he clarified the absence of success by his saying: "a provision" [meaning: for them]. He used the indefinite form to indicate its scarcity, as he said in another verse: "a little provision" [An-Nahl: 117]. He emphasized that by saying: "in this world" because it is a place of transition. What is destined for disappearance, dissolution, and decline is little, even if its duration is prolonged and its time spans are extended, and its duration is great. The number adds to the limitation. He clarified their state after the transition by his saying: "Then" meaning: after that provision for them, even if it is prolonged. "To Us" meaning: regarding what we have of greatness, not to others. "Their return" is by death, so we will make them taste a severe punishment, but it is less than the punishment of the Hereafter. "Then we will make them taste" on the Day of Resurrection "the severe punishment because" meaning: because of what "they were" meaning: a state that is their nature, "disbelievers." It is necessary to break "Indeed" after the saying because it is a narration of what is to be initiated in the news, as he did with the letter of beginning for that.