His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"O Prophet, strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh with them. Their abode is Hell, and wretched is the destination." "Allah has struck a parable for those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants, but they betrayed them. So they availed them not against Allah at all. And it was said, 'Enter the Fire with those who enter.'"

This verse is an affirmation of the command of jihad and its obligation, which has been previously established. The meaning is: Continue striving against the disbelievers with the sword, and strive against the hypocrites by establishing the limits upon them, and punishing them for all their crimes and when there is strong suspicion against them. Allah, exalted is He, did not specify a hypocrite for His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, upon whom the cutting due to hypocrisy would apply; because the testimony they were showing was misleading regarding their situation, resembling for them the sinners among the community. And "being harsh with them" means the harshness of the heart, reprimanding, and lack of gentleness towards them. Al-Dahhak read: "And be harsh" with a kasra on the lam and cutting the alif.

These two parables for the disbelievers and the believers mean that whoever disbelieves will not avail him against Allah anything, nor will any burden benefit him, even if it is related to the strongest of causes. And whoever believes, nothing will push him away from the pleasure of Allah, exalted is He, even if he is in the worst of origins and the lowest of conditions. Some people said: In these two parables is a lesson for the wives of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when their reprimand was mentioned. And this is distant, as the text indicates that it is for the disbelievers, which distances this.

People have differed regarding the betrayal of these two women. Ibn Abbas and others said: They betrayed in disbelief, and that the wife of Noah used to say to the people: "He is insane." And that the wife of Lot used to inform her people whenever a guest arrived. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The wife of a Prophet has never committed adultery, nor have the Prophets, blessings and peace be upon them, been tested in their wives with this. Al-Hasan said - in the book of Al-Naqqash -: They betrayed them in disbelief, adultery, and other matters. The majority read: "They will not avail" with a ya. And Bishr ibn Ubayd read: "They will not avail" with a ta from above.