And when He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned them, He took them as a reminder of the reason for it, which is that belittling the Messenger is belittling the One who sent him. In His saying: ﴿That﴾, meaning the great taking. And since the purpose of the Surah is to classify people in the Hereafter into two categories, they were one of the two pillars of the speech. He came with their pronoun and said: ﴿Because they﴾, meaning those who were before, ﴿Used to come to him﴾, meaning gradually over time in the past, in a manner that He, glorified and exalted is He, decreed and executed. ﴿Their messengers﴾, meaning those who are from them, ﴿With clear signs﴾, meaning the verses that indicate their truthfulness in a way that is so clear that it does not allow a fair-minded person to deny it.

And since absolute disbelief is sufficient for punishment, He expressed it in the past and said: ﴿So they disbelieved﴾, meaning they caused disbelief by not coming to the messengers, upon them be blessings and peace, the disbelief being the opposite of what their coming was a reason for, which was faith.

And when their disbelief caused them destruction, He said: ﴿So Allah took them﴾, meaning a taking of wrath, ﴿The Almighty﴾, meaning the greatest King. And since His saying: ﴿So they disbelieved﴾ indicates the reason for their taking, He did not say: by their disbelief, as He previously said: by their sins, to guide to the preceding cause. And since their daring to commit great sins is an act that denies His power, He affirmed their action as the action of one who does not fear Him: ﴿Indeed, He is All-Strong﴾, nothing overcomes Him, and He overcomes everything. ﴿Severe in punishment﴾.