Those who disbelieve, so they do not believe. This means they insisted on disbelief and immersed themselves in it. Therefore, no faith is expected from them, and they are the Banu Qurayzah. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, made a covenant with them not to support against him, but they broke it by aiding the polytheists of Mecca with weapons and said: 'We forgot and made a mistake.' Then he made a covenant with them again, but they broke it and sided with them on the Day of the Trench. And Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf went to Mecca and allied with them. Those whom you made a covenant with among them are a replacement for those who disbelieve, meaning those you made a covenant with from among the disbelievers. He made them the worst of creatures because the worst of people are the disbelievers, and the worst of disbelievers are those who insist on disbelief, and the worst of the insistents are those who break their covenants. And they do not fear the consequences of betrayal nor do they care about the shame and the fire in it. So if you encounter them in war, if you come across them and gain victory over them, then scatter those who are behind them. So, differentiate from your fighting and opposing them by killing them in the worst manner and inflicting harm upon them, from among the disbelievers behind them, so that no one dares to confront you after them, as a lesson for them and a warning by their condition. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, read: 'So scatter,' with the dhāl (ذ) pronounced, meaning: 'So differentiate,' and it is as if it is a reversal of 'shadhar' from their saying 'They went shadhar madhar.' And from it: 'shadhar' is the collected from the mine due to its scattering. Abu Haywah read: 'from behind them.' Its meaning is: 'So do the scattering from behind them,' because if those behind them are scattered, then the scattering has been done in the rear and inflicted upon it, because the rear is the direction of the scattered. If the rear is made a place for scattering, it indicates the scattering of those in it, so there remains no difference between the two readings. Perhaps they will remember, perhaps the scattered ones behind them will take heed.