That they may precede us or that we may miss them, meaning that the reward will inevitably reach them. They did not hope for missing it, nor did they entertain it in their hearts. However, due to their negligence and lack of contemplation on the outcome, and their insistence on sins, they are in the state of one who is capable of that and hopes for it. An example of this is: 'And you are not causing failure in the earth,' and 'And let not those who disbelieve think that they have outstripped [Allah]. Indeed, they will not cause failure.' If you say: Where are the objects of 'think'? I say: The inclusion of the clause 'that' contains a subject and a predicate that serve as the two objects, like His saying: 'Or did you think that you would enter Paradise?' It is also permissible to imply that 'think' means 'to estimate,' and 'or' is a disjunction. The meaning of the interruption here is that this estimation is more invalid than the first estimation, because the former estimates that he will not be tested for his faith, while this one thinks that he will not be recompensed for his equals. Evil is what they judge; wretched is the judgment they make with this judgment of theirs, or wretched is the judgment they make with this judgment of theirs, thus omitting the specific subject of blame.