And when their sin was complete with misguidance and leading others astray, they deserved to be seized. So He said: ﴿So it seized them﴾, meaning: as a result of their words and actions, it seized them. ﴿The quake﴾, meaning: the great shaking in the hearts or in the dwellings, which was a cause for the cry or caused by it.

﴿So they became in their abode﴾, meaning: their dwellings, and the secret of its oneness was established.

﴿Crouching﴾, meaning: kneeling on their knees or remaining in a position that left them unable to move. This is unlike what happened to the Prophet ﷺ when the angels descended at Hunayn, for the disbelievers heard within them a sound like the falling of pebbles into a basin. And unlike what his opponents felt of terror from a journey of a month behind him and a month in front of him. And because he was the Prophet of mercy, this did not necessitate their destruction, but rather salvation.