And when the meaning was: what they did that; We imposed upon them disgrace in this world; and the everlasting punishment in the Hereafter; and this was a summary of their worldly and otherworldly state; and their focus was on worldly matters; they returned - after guiding them to rectify their otherworldly state; because it is more important in itself - to the reason for their saying that vile word; and that ugly, bald calamity; which is the constriction of provision upon them; and it was clarified that the reason is indeed from themselves; so He said: ﴿And if they had upheld the Torah﴾; meaning: before the revelation of the Gospel; by acting upon all that it called for; from root and branch; and steadfastness upon it; and transition from it; ﴿and the Gospel﴾; meaning: after its revelation likewise; and in upholding it is the upholding of the Torah; which calls to it; ﴿and what was revealed to them from their Lord﴾; meaning: the Benefactor to them; from the books of the prophets that give glad tidings of Jesus; and Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon them both -; and from the Qur'an after its revelation; and in upholding it is the upholding of all of that; because it is a bearer of glad tidings of it; and a caller to it; ﴿they would have eaten﴾; meaning: for provision to be made easy for them; and He expressed with 'from'; because the intended meaning is to clarify the source of the food; not the eating; ﴿from above them﴾; and when that was a metaphor for the vastness of the expansion; He said - clarifying it; expressing in the best way; so that others may understand through the first -: ﴿and from beneath their feet﴾; meaning: very vast ease; connected; not limited; or it could be a metaphor for the blessings of the heavens and the earth; so He clarified that He did not strike them with humiliation and poverty except as a confirmation of what had been previously conveyed to them in the Torah; the translator of it said in the fifth book 'the supplication and blessings': (And if you hear the saying of Allah, your Lord; and you preserve it; and you act upon all the commandments that I command you today; your Lord will make you above all the peoples; and you will come to this supplication; He will bless every person among you in the village; and the field; He will bless your children; and your land; He will bless you in your livestock; and what you produce in your cattle; and your flocks; and He will bless you when you enter; and He will bless you when you exit; and Allah will deliver your enemies to you as captives; they will come out to you in one way; and they will flee from you in seven ways; Allah commands His blessings in your granaries; and in all the things to which you extend your hands; and all the peoples of the earth will look at you; and they will know that the name of the Lord is upon you; and you have been marked with it; so they will fear you; and your Lord will increase you in goodness; and He will bless the fruits of your land; Allah, your Lord, will open the granaries of the heavens; and rain will descend upon its people in its time; and you will dominate many peoples; and no one will dominate you; and your Lord will make you the head; and He will not make you the tail; and you will be above; and you will not be below; if you act upon all the commandments of Allah, your Lord; and do not turn away from them to the right or to the left; and do not follow the peoples; and do not worship their gods; and if you do not hear the saying of Allah, your Lord; and do not preserve it; and do not act upon all His Sunnahs; and the commandments that I command you today; this curse that I relate to you in full will befall you; and punishment will overtake you; and you will be cursed in the village); to the end of the curse that was previously mentioned; and He said in the third: (If you walk in My Sunnah; and preserve My commandments; and act upon them; I will continue your rains in their time; and the earth will yield its produce for you; and the tree will yield its fruits for you; and the harvesters will reach the harvest; and the harvest will reach the crop; and you will eat bread; and you will be satisfied; and you will dwell in your land in peace; and there will be no one to drive you out; and I will drive away from your land the ferocious beasts; and you will chase your enemies; five of you will defeat a hundred; and a hundred of you will defeat ten thousand; and your enemies will fall slain before you in war; and I will come to you; and I will multiply you; and I will establish My sanctuary among you; and I will not turn away from you; but I will be with you; and I will walk among you; and if you do not obey Me; and do not listen to My saying; and do not act upon these commandments; and you break My covenants; I will also do to you like your doing; and I will command you with calamities and leprosy and the scab that does not heal; and the plague that extinguishes sight; and destroys the soul; and your toil in the cultivation will be in vain; and that is because your enemies will eat what you sow; and I will pour out My wrath upon you; and your enemies will defeat you; and your enemies will dominate you; and you will be defeated without anyone defeating you; and I will make the heavens above you like iron; and the earth beneath you like bronze; and your land will not yield its produce for you; and the trees will not bear their fruits; and I will send upon you the ferocious beasts that will destroy you and destroy your livestock; and the paths will be desolate from you; and I will unleash death upon you; and I will deliver you to your enemies; and you will eat and not be satisfied; and you will come to distress until you eat the flesh of your daughters; and I will destroy your homes; and I will scatter you among the nations; and your villages will be destroyed; then the land will rest its sabbaths; and it will rest all the days of its desolation as it did not rest; while you were in it disobedient and did not rest; and those who remain among you will be thrown into fear; and the sound of a leaf being stirred will drive them away; and they will flee from the sound of the leaf; as they flee from the sword; and they will be punished for their sin; and they will be punished for the sin of their fathers; and after that their hearts will be broken.)

And when what has passed of their blame may have implied that it is for all of them, he said - beginning anew; answering one who asks about that -: ﴿Among them﴾; meaning: the people of the Book; ﴿is a community﴾; meaning: a group that is worthy of being followed; ﴿moderate﴾; meaning: striving for justice; neither excess nor deficiency; and they are those whom Allah has guided to Islam by their good seeking; and their striving; ﴿and many of them﴾; meaning: the Children of Israel; ﴿evil is what they do﴾; meaning: how evil is their action in which they persist in renewing! For in it is a meaning of astonishment; and the expression by action; because they claim that nothing comes from them except by knowledge; and they are those who distorted the words from their places; and committed great sins in their enmity towards Allah and His Messenger.