And when it was as if it was said: So what do you want for them? They said, exaggerating in tenderness and seeking compassion by repeating the Lord's words: "Our Lord" meaning, O Benefactor to us, "give them double" [meaning] like our punishment from the weakness of our strength and the severity of the one affecting it, multiplied many times, "of the punishment" double due to their misguidance, and another due to their leading astray. And if you review what is in the last of Subhan, the meaning of double will become clear to you. This is supported by His saying: "And curse them with a great curse," meaning, drive them away from the places of mercy with a complete expulsion in number. The meaning according to the reading of Asim with the singular is: great, severe, and harsh.