And when the context necessitated the question about the explanation of some of their condition, he responded by saying: ﴿They said, 'Let us divide'﴾. This is a matter of what is meant by division, meaning: let us carry out the division and the oath among you ﴿by Allah﴾, meaning: the One who has no equal due to His greatness and the comprehensiveness of His encompassing knowledge and power. So let each of you say about himself and those with him, indicating that you are like a single body: ﴿We will surely kill him at night﴾, meaning: righteously ﴿and his family﴾, meaning: we will surely destroy everyone at night, for the act of killing at night is a surprise attack against the enemy.

And when it was customary that those who carry out the night attack must have some of them remain, they said: ﴿Then we will surely say to his guardian﴾, meaning: the one demanding his blood if any of them remain: ﴿We did not witness﴾, meaning: we were not present in a complete manner ﴿the destruction﴾, meaning: the death of ﴿his family﴾, meaning: the family of that guardian, let alone that we have directly engaged, or the family of a righteous one, peace be upon him, let alone that we have witnessed the destruction of a righteous one or directly engaged in killing him or the place of their destruction. And when the calamity from the guardian due to his death - peace be upon him - is greater than the calamity of the death of his family and more significant, it was in the context attributed to the guardian - assuming that the pronoun refers to the righteous one, peace be upon him - (p-178) a more complete guidance to indicate that the assumption is: and there is no destruction of him.

And when they had firmly resolved on this matter, and thought themselves to be exaggerating in the oath and daring to lie, they said: ﴿And indeed﴾, meaning: and we say in the totality of the oath, emphasizing the oath, implying the truth of the statement: and indeed ﴿we are truthful﴾. How astonishing it is from a people when they make an oath, they flee to Allah, the Most Great, then they turn away from Him like the fleeing of the oppressor, to idols that are more beneficial than the dry twigs.