And when this sentence indicated the evil of their deeds and their persistence in them, this was confirmed by his saying: ﴿They took﴾ meaning they burdened their original, upright nature with what they have of inclination towards the deviation of character and love for harm. ﴿Their oaths﴾ are the false ones that do not diminish for one who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of faith. ﴿A shield﴾ meaning a protection and covering from all that would expose them of hypocrisy, whatever it may be, or would necessitate their killing due to what occurs from them of disbelief.

And when their knowledge was that He is pleased with them in appearance and affirms their oaths, this is what emboldened them towards the great sins. They would entice people towards hypocrisy with immediate desires and discourage them from religion with what it contains of immediate burdens and delayed rewards. This caused their acceptance of faith to be a saying that manifests an increase in reprimanding [them]: ﴿So they turned away﴾ meaning the acceptance of that from them and the delay of their punishment was a reason for them to commit the turning away ﴿from the path of Allah﴾ meaning the law of the Most High King, which is the way to His pleasure, which is the cause of the greatest success. For they would discourage those whom they encountered from entering into Islam and would belittle its matter and demean it. And whoever saw them having been freed from the disliked things by their false oaths and their provisions were returned to them as a gradual entrapment, and they attained elevation among the people by what pleases them from their words confirmed by oaths, that deceived him, so he followed their tradition in their words and actions, and he patterned himself after them, being deceived by the outward appearance of their matter, turning away from what Allah, glorified and exalted is He, had promised them of the recompense for their deception and plotting. And He conducted the matter in a manner of mockery with the 'lam' that is used in what is beloved, and He said: ﴿So for them﴾ meaning the consequence of their turning away was that they had ﴿a humiliating punishment﴾ as a recompense for what they sought by that turning away of honoring themselves and humiliating the people of Islam.