And when this was, it might have misled that their denial was not according to His intended meaning, glorified and exalted is He. He said, pushing back against that and affirming His power to take them, as a warning to them and a consolation for those who denied him: ﴿And Allah﴾, meaning, while the King who is distinguished by glory and honor ﴿is behind them﴾, meaning from every direction they conceal themselves or it conceals them. And that is every direction ﴿is encompassing﴾, [for He is encompassing -] of them from every direction by His knowledge and power. So it is a metaphor indicating that they are in His grasp and cannot escape Him in any way, just as one who is in the grasp of an enemy is not spared by any means. So He, glorified is He, is capable of bringing upon them what He brought upon those. And perhaps He specified 'behind' because a person protects what is behind him and because it is the direction of fleeing from calamities.