﴿Taking what﴾ means: everything ﴿their Lord has given them﴾ that is: the Benefactor to them... with the completeness of His knowledge and the comprehensiveness of His power. He does not leave for them any pleasure except that He bestows it upon them, and they accept it with the utmost desire; because it is of the utmost delight. And since this is a great matter that dispels any illusion regarding it, He explained it by saying, confirming the attribution of the disbelievers to wrongdoing: ﴿Indeed, they were﴾ meaning: a state that is like nature. And since a person (p-455) is either obedient throughout his entire life or in part of it... in obedience, and obedience cancels out what came before it, and it can be a reason for transforming sins into good deeds as a favor from Him, glorified and exalted is He, then each of the two categories was obedient at all times. He removed the barrier and said: ﴿Before that﴾ meaning: in the abode of action. And it was said: They took what was obligated upon them with the utmost acceptance; because they were before the obligation of the obligatory acts acting out of love, which is the meaning of ﴿doers of good﴾ meaning: in their dealings with the Creator and the created, they worship Allah as if they see Him. Then He explained their goodness, expressing it in the utmost exaggeration by saying: