And when the decree was a push against obstinacy... The listener's anticipation of what was the state of him ﷺ with them before the punishment: He certainly excelled in our gratitude by his admonishing them, advising them, and calling them to us, diverting from what We had bestowed upon him of the message in its most complete aspects. He alluded to him by his saying, confirming that the persistence of the forbidden punishment upon the establishment of its cause is almost unbelievable: ﴿And indeed, We warned them﴾ meaning: Our Messenger Lot, peace be upon him, ﴿of Our grasp﴾ meaning: Our taking them, which is coupled with the severity of Our greatness. He emphasized that nothing of His punishment, glorified and exalted is He, should be taken lightly; rather, a single taking is sufficient for Our greatness, so it does not require repetition. This indicated that his warning was deserving of acceptance due to its clarity of truth, as evidenced by his saying: ﴿So they disputed﴾ meaning: they engaged in baseless doubt ﴿about the warnings﴾ meaning: the warning as a source and the warnings or the warners, until it led them to denial, which became a reason for the taking.