And when the public declaration may not spread or circulate among their groups, he indicated that he had made that known. He emphasized the indication of the severity of it by saying: "Then indeed I have declared" meaning I have made it known, spread it, and made it famous so that they may know that it is the truth from their Lord. This is because I am not shy of it nor am I ashamed of it. "For them" meaning I have specified them with that. There was no personal interest in it, for I repeated that to them after the obligation was lifted from me. When the public declaration was preferred because it is closer to being free from suspicion, and secrecy is more deserving of knowing the intentions and closer to persuasion, he followed it with: "And I secretly called them" meaning I called each one of them individually to be more likely to accept the advice and to indicate sincerity. All of this I did only for the sake of their advice; there is no personal interest for me in that. And when a person waits to be alone without anyone present or is not preoccupied with something that greatly hinders, he can hardly believe it. He confirmed it by saying: "Secretly" and to indicate by his confirmation the affirmation of what preceded it from the actions. The apparent state of him and this arrangement from what he explicitly stated of diligence indicates that he acted in accordance with wisdom. He first called the closest people to him and those most familiar with him, then he moved on to those after them until the call reached them all. This call was a secret, each one of them individually so that they may know his sincerity and no one among them would take that as reproach or rebuke. He declared it so that they may know that it is a refuge from Allah to that, and that it is a determination; if they fall short in responding, they would be punished. So when they persisted, he combined between secrecy and openness. When they continued and the harm prolonged, he complained. And thus, there is a distance in ranks, not in the arrangement of time. It may be that it is for the arrangement because the public declaration is further from suspicion, then the announcement after it is even further.