And when the decree was: "Indeed, We have caused each of those factions to succeed; when the punishment was due upon them; by a type of punishment; there is no doubt about it with anyone; nor any suspicion"; He added to it His saying: ﴿And what﴾; and when Quraysh was in intense stubbornness; and determination upon disbelief; and arrogance against submitting to the truth; and engaging in all means of torment; as if they were waiting for it; and hastening it; He expressed what indicates waiting; and when they knew the truth of what was coming to them; and were certain of the validity of what he said; as if they saw the punishment and did not turn back; He stripped the act of waiting; and said: ﴿He looks﴾; and He belittled them with His saying: ﴿These﴾; meaning: those who turned away from you in pride and opposition; and their utmost effort was to be among the factions; who banded together against Our soldiers; so We took them by what is well-known of Our events; and recognized from Our days; with various types of punishment; and their multitude did not avail them; nor did their strength anything; and the weakness of them did not harm Our soldiers; nor their fewness; ﴿Except a cry﴾; and He belittled their matter by indicating that the least thing of His punishment is sufficient for their destruction; so He said: ﴿One﴾; and when the context is for threatening; it is known by it that the description of the singular is for magnification; He clarified it with His saying: ﴿What is for it﴾; meaning: the cry; ﴿From a delay﴾; meaning: any additional thing of its kind that would be above it; it is said: "He surpassed his companions in height; and in delay": he surpassed them; and Hamzah read it with a dammah; so it would be a metaphor for the swiftness of destruction by it; without any delay at all; for "the delay" is like "the raven": what takes the dying person at the time of struggle; and the meaning is that He does not need in their destruction to add to the described cry; because there is no cry above it; so in that is the magnification of the least thing of His punishment; and the belittlement of the highest thing of their matter; and it is permissible that both readings are from "the delay of milking"; Al-Saghani said: and "the delay"; and "the delay"; meaning with a dammah; and with a fathah: what is between the two milkings of time; because it is milked then quickly left for the suckling to flow; he said in the dictionary: or what is between the opening of your hand and its closing on the udder; so the meaning is: what is for it from a return; as milk returns in the udder from the delay; and as the sick person returns from illness to health; or: what is for it from separation; and parting; to the extent that anyone breathes in it with the least breathing; and the shortest time; as is the habit of familiar sounds; there is a return in it that causes in the sound a fragmentation that makes its impact weak and feeble; and its reliance on its exit is loose; rather it is deaf; on a single pattern; it does not surprise anyone except that he dies; except for whom Allah (the Exalted) has made steadfast; and it is permissible that it be from the delay of the dying person; meaning that there is no preliminary for death other than the striking of the sound; and this is in agreement with their saying: what is for it (p-347) from a glance and comfort; and Allah knows best.