﴿So they denied him﴾ meaning they caused his denial because of their tyranny. After this last matter, regarding what he warned of the coming punishment, or the 'fa' could be the clear one, meaning he said to them that, after that, there were matters between him and them in it, so they caused his denial in all of them. ﴿So they hamstrung it﴾ meaning because of that denial, some of them by action and some of them by being pleased with it. ﴿So He punished﴾ meaning He inflicted a complete punishment that was overwhelming, covering, and thorough, which crushed their heads and hastened in their destruction, and ground them with a severe anger; Al-Razi said: and 'damdamah' means shaking the structure until it overturns, and it indicated by the tool of elevation upon its severity and encompassing it, so He said: ﴿upon them﴾ and it indicated the severity of the punishment due to the intensity of the anger by mentioning the attribute of the goodness which they denied, for there is no greater anger than one who (p-83) has denied His goodness. So He said: ﴿their Lord﴾ meaning the One who has done good to them, so His goodness deceived them, and He cut it off from them, and they returned like the yesterday of the past. ﴿Because of their sin﴾ meaning because of it.

And when they were equal in oppression and disbelief because of the hamstringing of the she-camel, some of them by action and some of them by being pleased and encouraging, He said, causing as a result of that [and following up]: ﴿So He leveled it﴾ meaning the punishment upon them, and made it as if it were a land that was thoroughly leveled, so there was nothing [outside of anything as] He leveled the sun by which He swore and leveled between the people in it, [and likewise] what He swore by after it. So the punishment was upon their strong ones just as it was upon their weak ones, and it did not spare any one of them, nor did the destruction of one of them precede the destruction of another, rather they were all like one soul from the force of the shock and the severity of the quake, just as they were equal in disbelief and being pleased with the hamstringing of the she-camel. And every soul is with its owner like the she-camel, which Allah has commanded its owner to take care of its blessing, glorified is He, in it, so that he purifies it and does not corrupt it. For the she-camel is a means of transport by which one cuts through the paths, whether physically or metaphorically, and that is valid to be intended for the soul that cuts through the obstacles of actions, and the drink is what the one being watered lives by, and it is valid to be intended for the remembrance and worship. So whoever does not take care of the blessing and thank the Bestower has indeed hamstrung it, thus deserving the punishment from Him. And just as He leveled between them in the punishment, He leveled between the guided ones in salvation.