So when all of that was established, his distinction was without pause. "Those" [Quran 2:5] means those who are far from the truth. "Those who have purchased" means they have persisted in their desires, causing themselves to oppose what Allah has created them upon, along with the evidence He has set forth, until they took "misguidance" which is the most abhorrent of things, in exchange for "guidance" which is the best of things, and the essence of every sentient being. It is as if, due to the clarity of the evidence established against them, along with what is ingrained in their innate nature, it was in their hands, so they sold it for that. It will come in Surah Yusuf, peace be upon him, that the material of 'purchased' in its twelve forms revolves around obstinacy. "So what" means that the consequence of their actions was that their "trade did not profit them," despite their claim that they were the most insightful regarding it. "And they were not" in their very natures "guided" because, although they did not profit, they lost their principal, for nothing remained in their hands except misguidance, which is of a lower status than that of animals, despite their claim that there is none like them in guidance.