Then he began explaining that by saying: ﴿They said﴾ meaning each of them confirmed, relishing what led them to what they are in, for it is hard to believe. They attribute the blessing of existence to Allah, who created them with a nature of goodness. They drop the preposition as a sign of their continuous fear, indicating that the fear which leads to refraining from sins must be continuous, unlike the hope that leads to acts of obedience, for it is enough in that what is made easy, as indicated by the affirmation of the preposition: ﴿Indeed, we were before﴾ meaning in the abode of deeds ﴿among our people﴾ regarding what they have of numbers, resources, blessings, and abundance. And we had with them aspects of pleasure and incentives to play ﴿fearing﴾ meaning deeply rooted in fear of Allah, nothing distracts us from Him while we adhere to what we can of His obedience, knowing that we cannot fully worship Him due to His greatness, majesty, pride, and perfection in accordance with His true worth. And if He were to take us for our smallest sins, He would destroy us. Al-Razi said: And 'fear' is the continuity of caution combined with mercy. It is to be concerned for the soul before it becomes obstinate. It has categories: concern for the deed that it may become lost, concern for creation due to the knowledge of its measures, concern for time that it may be mixed with distraction, concern for the heart that it may be affected by an affliction, and concern for the soul that it may be influenced by a cause - this is the end.