And when he weaned himself from longing for their responses to what I had decreed, it caused them to deny by saying: ﴿And they denied﴾, meaning: by the fact that the splitting is indicative of the truthfulness of the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, and they firmly resolved to deny out of stubbornness or malice from them. And when the denial itself may indeed be true, he clarified that it is false. He explained their condition by saying: ﴿And they followed﴾, meaning: by addressing their original, upright nature in calling for belief, ﴿their desires﴾, meaning: until they opposed what their minds indicated to them after the original nature. Al-Qushayri said: When following desires occurs, from its evil, denial arises, because Allah, glorified and exalted is He, veils the heart of its owner so that he does not discern guidance. Following what pleases Allah is coupled with belief, for Allah, exalted is He, through the blessings of following the truth, opens the eye of insight, leading to belief - and Allah is the Guide. And when this was horrifying to the hearts of the truth-seekers, He consoled them by reaching a point where the truths become evident and the falsehoods diminish. He said, adding to what you have decreed: So the matter of each of the truth-seeker and the falsifier will settle in its place, and they will uncover its details and secrets: ﴿And every matter﴾ of your affairs and others ﴿is settled﴾, meaning: it is established and existent, its end will reach a limit where its reality becomes apparent without any means accompanying it to refute that settlement, and there is no concealment for anyone. The truth must reach its end from everything, from lifetimes, guidance, misguidance, happiness, misery, and others, to its conclusion, establishing itself firmly without any possibility of removal. And falsehood will end, as the character called it, to its limit, fading away without any permanence whatsoever. So when matters settle, what they have will become evident, and they will know the loser from the winner. In this regard, Ibn Amr al-Taymi, the brother of al-Qaqa, said in the Battle of the Si, from the lands of Iraq:

And death is our steed when we meet ∗∗∗ with a foe, and matters have an end.

And Abu Ja'far read with the genitive case as a description for 'matter', so it would be connected to the hour, meaning: and every matter is settled, meaning: it is established, and it is the truth, meaning: the appearance and its permanence have drawn near, and that cannot happen except when the concealment of falsehood and its passing have occurred.