﴿But those who disbelieve﴾; by what they show of denial of it; ﴿in pride﴾; meaning: in difficulty; and hardship; and in contention with the zeal of ignorance; they are enveloped by it; for it is a blindness to them from the truth; due to its encompassing them; and the feminine form indicates its weakness; and is a sign of its quick demise and transformation into humiliation; ﴿and division﴾; meaning: turning away; and refusal; and arrogance against accepting the truth from the two tongues of the state; which existence has expressed; and the saying; which the mention has declared; so it guided them to what is in their innate nature; and their dispositions; with the most eloquent expression; and the clearest indication; if they were to understand; so they turned away from contemplating it out of stubbornness from them; not out of belief: ﴿So indeed, they do not deny you, but the wrongdoers deny the signs of Allah﴾ [Al-An'am: 33] and the indefiniteness of them is for the purpose of magnification; Al-Razi said: He omitted the answer so that the heart may wander in every direction; to be more abundant; and its seas more overflowing; it has ended.

And Imam Abu Ja'far ibn Al-Zubair said: When He (the Exalted) mentioned the state of the past nations with their prophets in their arrogance; and denial; and that this led them to a severe and prolonged punishment; this was a reminder of the state of the polytheists of the Arabs; and a clarification of their evil deeds; and that they had preceded in that wrongdoing; so the severe punishment befell the obstinate; and He elaborated on the state of these; and the evil of their words; so that it may be known that there is no difference between them and the deniers of the past nations; in deserving punishment; and the evil of their reversal; and the declaration of this has occurred in His saying (the Exalted): ﴿The people of Noah and 'Aad and Pharaoh of the stakes denied before them﴾ [Sad: 12]; up to His saying: ﴿Indeed, every one denied the messengers, so the punishment was justified﴾ [Sad: 14]; and when He followed this with mentioning their hastiness; in His saying: ﴿Hasten for us our share before the Day of Judgment﴾ [Al-Mu'minun: 16]; He followed that with the command to His Prophet ﷺ to be patient; so He said: ﴿Be patient over what they say﴾ [Al-Mu'minun: 17]; then He comforted him by mentioning the prophets; and the state of the close and pure ones; ﴿And all that We relate to you of the news of the messengers is that by which We make firm your heart﴾ [Hud: 120]; it has ended.