And when the speech indicated that the estimation is: they distorted much in the Book of Allah and added and subtracted, He followed it with what clarified their audacity and harshness and their lack of concern for what they commit of the crimes of which they are the most knowledgeable that some of them necessitate eternal punishment in the Fire. So He, the Exalted, said: ﴿And they said, 'Never will the Fire touch us'﴾ from touching, which is the encounter of the apparent of a thing with the apparent of another. ﴿The Fire﴾ means the one prepared in the Hereafter ﴿except for a few days﴾. And when their intention by that was that they would not be made to dwell in it forever, and although the gathering of the few indicates that, it might have been borrowed for the many. Thus, it indicated what has no end or what is difficult to count. They increased the meaning for emphasis and clarification by their saying: ﴿A limited number﴾, meaning it is finite, for every counted thing is finite. Al-Harali said: Counting is considering the multitude of some by some, and he limited it to the description of the singular for its sufficiency in this meaning, unlike what is in Al-Imran.

And when they claimed that, they claimed that the Muslims would leave them after that in it. Al-Bukhari narrated in the chapter of Jizyah and Ghazawat and Medicine, and Al-Darimi in the beginning of the Musnad, from Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "When Khaybar was opened, a sheep was gifted to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, which contained poison. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Gather for me those who are here from the Jews.' So they gathered for him, and he said: 'I will ask you about something, will you be truthful with me about it?' They said: 'Yes.' He said to them: 'Who is your father?' They said: 'So-and-so.' He said: 'You have lied; rather, your father is So-and-so.' They said: 'You have spoken the truth and been righteous.' He said: 'Will you be truthful with me about something if I ask you about it?' They said: 'Yes, O Abu al-Qasim, and if we lie, you will know our lie as you knew it in our father.' He said to them: 'Who are the people of the Fire?' They said: 'We will be in it for a short time, then you will replace us in it.' The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Be cast away in it! By Allah, we will never replace you in it.' Then he said: 'Will you be truthful with me about something if I ask you about it?' They said: 'Yes, O Abu al-Qasim.' He said: 'Did you put poison in this sheep?' They said: 'Yes.' He said: 'What led you to do that?' They said: 'We intended that if you were a liar, we would be relieved from you, and if you were a prophet, it would not harm you.'" And when they claimed that, it was as if it was said: 'What should we respond to them?' So He said: ﴿Say﴾, denying their saying ﴿Did you take﴾ in that ﴿with Allah﴾, meaning the One to whom belongs all matters ﴿a covenant, then surely﴾ (p-496) meaning it would result from that that He fulfills His covenant, for indeed ﴿Allah does not break﴾ the One who has the attributes of perfection ﴿His covenant. Or﴾ was that not the case? So you ﴿say about Allah﴾, the One who encompasses everything with power and knowledge ﴿what you do not know﴾. And the meaning of denial in the question is that neither of the two matters is occurring: you did not take a covenant, nor did you say that out of ignorance, but you said it while you know the opposite.