And it is as if the duration of the attempt of the speaker, blessings and peace be upon him, was close. Therefore, he expressed it with the letter 'fa' in his saying: "So when they angered us." This means they did to us what greatly angers by angering our allies, as in the sacred hadith: "I fell ill and you did not visit me." For their breaking [of their promises] time after time and repeatedly in succession. "We took vengeance on them" means we inflicted upon them in the manner of retribution for what they did to our Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, a great, severe, and detestable punishment. It is as if it was by the remedy of "So We drowned them" in the sea, "all together." The destruction of a single soul from them did not escape anyone among them despite their multitude, strength, and severity. This does not occur in general except after much remedy or great care.