And when the taking of the prophets in that was a taking of their nations, and disbelief was punished upon them without condition, while obedience was rewarded upon the condition of sincerity, he explained it, expressing what is intended by the surah. He said, turning to the station of the unseen to magnify the awe, for when the address is prolonged, the addressed becomes at ease: "Let them ask" meaning on the Day of Resurrection, "the truthful" meaning in fulfilling the covenant, "about their truthfulness" is it for Allah alone or not, honoring them and humiliating and reproaching the liars. And he asks the disbelievers about their disbelief, what led them to it, while he has prepared for the truthful a great reward, "and prepared for the disbelievers" meaning those who conceal the shining of the covenant, "a painful punishment." Thus, the verse is among the beauties of the garden of interlacing, and he only specified the questioning of the truthful as a good tidings for him with his honor in that great position, and he concealed the questioning of the disbelievers as a sign of his disdain for their disgrace of lying. "And they swear by the lie while they know" [Al-Mujadila: 14] "So they swear to him as they swear to you" [Al-Mujadila: 18] and he mentioned what is more severe for them.