'And We bound' with what We have of greatness 'upon their hearts' meaning We strengthened them. So what is in them of strength became gathered, not dispersed. Their state in the presence was like their state in solitude 'when they stood' for Allah, the Exalted, the right standing in that 'generation' of the disbelievers before their tyrant, Daqyanus. 'So they said' opposing them: 'Our Lord' who deserves to be singled out for worship due to His uniqueness in managing our affairs, He is 'the Lord of the heavens and the earth' meaning their creator and manager. 'We will not call upon besides Him a god' after it has been established that all others are incapable. By Allah, 'we have certainly said then' [meaning] if we call upon besides Him another 'a statement that is far from the truth' indeed; then they began to argue that it is far from the truth by saying that there is no evidence for it. It is possible that when they said that, the devil presented to them the doubt of imitation, so they replied to it: 'These' [Al-Kahf: 15] and it could be that they said that to the king to save him from the evil of ignorance. And He clarified those referred to by their saying: 'Our people' [Al-Kahf: 15] meaning even if they were older than us, stronger, and more respected in this world 'they took' [Al-Kahf: 15] meaning opposing with the methodology of reason, the call of the original fitrah 'besides Him gods' [Al-Kahf: 15] they associated them [with Him] due to a weak doubt by which the devil misled them.