Then he reminded them of the severity that occurred due to their collusion. He said, changing from the first ﴿when﴾: ﴿when the soldiers came to you﴾, meaning the mentioned soldiers, beginning with the closest to them. This is because the closest is more aware of the weakness and more informed of the harm.

And since it is known that they did not apply what was above and what was below, he introduced the partitive tool and said: ﴿from above you﴾, meaning Banu Qurayzah and Asad and Ghatafan from the direction of the flow of the torrents from the east. He added the above to their pronoun because the families were in the hills, which are between Banu Qurayzah and those in the trench. Thus, they became above the families and the men.

And since the intended meaning of above is from the aspect of the height of the land, he clarified it by saying: ﴿and from below you﴾ without saying: below you. This also indicates that those below only surrounded some aspect of the men, and he did not say "and from beneath you" so that it would not be assumed that he was above the heads and beneath the feet. He also did not say in the first "from above you" so that there would not be a description of the disbelievers with elevation. The lowest part of the earth, the city, is from the direction of the west, meaning Quraysh and those who are with them from Kinana, for their path is from that direction.

And when he reminded them of the coming that is the cause of fear, he reminded them of fear by mentioning its circumstance as well, emphasizing its matter by the conjunction. He said: ﴿and when﴾, meaning remember when. He feminized the verb and what he conjoined it with because the reminder that revolves around strength, elevation, and firmness contradicts deviation. He said: ﴿the eyes swerved﴾, meaning they deviated from the straightness of purpose, the action of the terrified parent due to what happened from the negligence arising from the astonishment caused by the terror. He cut that off from the addition to the pronoun of address to maintain them and teach them etiquette in addressing. Likewise, ﴿and the hearts reached the throats﴾ is a metaphor for the intensity of terror and palpitations. It is permissible - and this is the closer meaning - that this is literally due to the pulling of the spleen and the lung at that time, with their swelling to the upper chest. Hence, their saying to the coward: his nostrils swelled, meaning his lung. ﴿the throats﴾ is the plural of حَنْجَرَة, which is the end of the throat. From this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in what Ahmad and Abu Dawood narrated from Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him: "The worst thing in a person is cowardice that strips the heart from its place." The plurality indicates that this encompassed them or nearly did.

And when this state occurred, then it was from its matter that it either ceased or remained until the end of the matter. He expressed it in the past tense for that reason and to affirm it. And when there arose from it the fluctuation of hearts and the renewal of thoughts in every direction, he expressed it in the present tense, indicating the continuity of renewal, and said: ﴿And you think of Allah﴾, who has the attributes of perfection, so no deficiency can touch the greatness of His majesty, nor can anything vile approach His honor. ﴿The thoughts﴾, meaning the types of thoughts, either in relation to people, which is clear, and that is according to the strength of faith and its weakness, or in relation to an individual, according to the change of circumstances. Sometimes, destruction is thought of due to weakness, and sometimes, salvation is thought of because Allah is capable of that. The hypocrites and those close to them from the weak-hearted think what Allah has narrated about them. Al-Razi mentioned in Al-Lawa'ih: It is narrated that the Muslims said: 'Our hearts have reached our throats, so is there anything we can say?' (p-303) Then he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'O Allah, cover our nakedness and grant us safety from our fears.' And the addition of the letter 'alif' in the reading of those who affirmed it in both cases, which are Al-Mudani and Ibn 'Amir and Shu'bah, indicates the vastness of these thoughts and the branching of those reflections. And for those who affirmed it in the pause without the connection, which are Ibn Kathir, Al-Kisai, and Hafs, it indicates the difference of the state sometimes with strength and sometimes with weakness.