His saying: ﴿When they disown﴾ is from the disowning which is the request for innocence and its establishment with seriousness and effort. It is the manifestation of the removal from a connection or entanglement. ﴿Those who were followed﴾ means: along with the following of others for them, and they are the leaders. ﴿From those who were followed﴾ along with their benefit to them in this world by following them and defending them.

And al-Harali said: He said this as a manifestation to clarify what the content of the first address implies, so that the verses connect with one another. The verse reveals what is within its predecessor and gathers what is in the detail of its successor, and elevates the discourse with what is rationally known in advance to what in faith is its news, so that the light of the intellect, which occurred through consideration, is completed by the light of faith, which is accepted by what in the Hereafter is manifest. So whoever understands the lesson of the apparent universe deserves to hear the news of the unseen that is to come; then he said: By this, the one followed in mention disowns, for he is the last in existence. It is as if in meaning: The follower only attached himself to the one followed to seek refuge for him in the Hereafter, just as there was a covenant from him [to seek refuge for him in this world, so he disowns him] when Allah, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned ﴿Indeed, all power belongs to Allah﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 165]. Therefore, the mention of disowning is connected to the mention of the seizure of power and ability from them. End.

Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said ﴿And they will see﴾ meaning: all of them ﴿the punishment﴾ meaning: that from which there is no escape for them. And al-Harali said: He said it in response to the implicitness regarding all, and in it is an indication that this is before the overpowering of the punishment upon them and at the time of seeing. In it is a notification that between their seeing the punishment and their being seized by it is a period in which their disputes and disowning occur, and their realization of the truth which was hidden from them in this world by what some of them tempted others. End.

﴿And they were cut off﴾ meaning: they made an effort and intended the cutting which is between the connected. Al-Harali indicated this, and its meaning is that he cut off with great force. It is permissible that the form of the verb indicates a recurrence of the cutting in a period, as it appears to them the severance of the causes gradually, increasing in their humiliation and pain. And they ﴿by it﴾ meaning: all of them, all ﴿the causes﴾ meaning: all of them, which are the connections that were between them in this world. The cause is what is relied upon to achieve a result; in origin, it is the rope, then it is said for every purpose. Al-Harali said: And in it is an indication of the emptiness of their inner selves from piety and from their reliance on Allah, glorified and exalted is He, in their worldly affairs, and that they did not understand except the causation of some of them by others, so the causes were cut off by them. And it was not for them, for that is occurring within themselves, not occurring for them in others. It is as if they were a system of causes that were cut off by them, so they scattered from it. And their causes are the connections between them in this world which did not remain in the Hereafter, for they are from the ephemeral connections, not from the lasting connections. For what is sought from this world, what was from it with right is from the lasting righteous deeds, and what was from it out of desire is from the ephemeral corrupt.