And when He clarified what is for the corruptors from their being, they said about Allah what is not true, so it will not be forgiven for them. He clarified what is for the righteous mentioned in His saying: ﴿And of the people of Moses is a community guiding by truth and by it they establish justice﴾ [Al-A'raf: 159]. He said, adding to His prior statement: Those have had their deeds rendered void in what they studied from the Book, and it will not be forgiven for them what they brought of corruption: ﴿And those who hold fast﴾ meaning: they hold fast with a strong holding that is renewed in every aspect of continuity. This indicates that holding fast to the Sunnah is extremely difficult, especially when corruption appears. ﴿By the Book﴾ meaning: they do not say about Allah except the truth. Among the aspects of their renewed holding is their transition from that Book when the abrogating comes, for it speaks of that. And Allah is the One who grants success.

And when their holding fast to the Book at the time of the revelation of this speech was their transition from their religion to Islam, as occurred in the places that have been previously explained, He expressed the establishment of the prescribed prayer for them with the past tense rather than the present tense, so that they do not make it a proof for remaining steadfast in their religion. This conveys the opposite of what is intended, so He said: ﴿And they established the prayer﴾ and specified it as an indication that the earlier ones abandoned it, as He explicitly stated in the verse of Maryam. And it is a reference to its importance, clarifying that it is one of the greatest symbols of the religion. And since the estimation is news about the subject: We will give them their rewards for their rectification, He placed it in a general position with His saying: ﴿Indeed, We do not waste﴾ meaning: in any way ﴿the reward of the righteous.﴾