And when he informed about the generality of this group regarding evil, he informed about their evil by saying: ﴿And there were in the city﴾ meaning: their city, Al-Hijr, from the great ones of the village and its notable figures ﴿nine men﴾ meaning: men, in opposition to the nine signs of Musa.

And since the term 'men' refers to a group of people, the nine were added to it, so it is as if it was said: nine men, even if it was for a specific group of men, which are between three or seven [up to ten], and those below nine are a group. And it was said in the dictionary that a group is less than ten, except that it implies separation, while 'a group' implies greatness, intensity, and gathering. ﴿They cause corruption﴾ and it was said: ﴿in the land﴾ indicating the generality of their corruption and its continuity.

And when all the disbelievers are corrupting through disbelief, and some of them might sometimes do good in some of their actions, it clarified that these are not like that, rather they are pure evil (p-177) confirmed their complete inclination towards corruption by saying explicitly what the present tense implies: ﴿And they do not do good﴾.