And when he first denied them, he referred them back to the messengers for their command to oppose desires in his saying: "Is it that every time a messenger comes to you..." [Al-Baqarah: 87]. He followed it up with what is appropriate until he concluded that the signs of this messenger are of the clear matter which their Book bears witness to. And He took a covenant from them to follow it, as He guided to His saying, the Most High: "So if guidance comes to you from Me..." [Al-Baqarah: 38]. He secondly denied their disbelief in what the messengers brought with his saying: "And every time they made a covenant, a group of them threw it away..." meaning: they cast it aside, regarding it as insignificant.

"A group of them" meaning: people whose concern is striving for division. And since this is fluctuating between minimization and maximization due to the fluctuation of the tanween between glorification and belittlement, he refuted the possibility of minimization with his saying: "Rather," meaning: the disbelieving group in throwing it away is not less, rather "most of them do not believe" in state or outcome.