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Explanatory Note
The sūrah then states a fundamental fact that is relevant to this scene. The infliction of suffering and humiliation on the unbelievers is a permanent law that does not change. It was set into operation a long time ago and it continues to operate without fail: “Like Pharaoh’s people and those who lived before them, they denied God’s revelations; so God took them to task for their sins. God is mighty, severe in retribution.” God does not determine the fate of human beings haphazardly or on the basis of sudden whims. Their fate follows a law that is meant to apply at all times. What happened to those unbelievers at Badr is likely to happen to them at all times. The same type of thing happened to Pharaoh’s people and to other communities before them, because “they denied God’s revelations; so God took them to task for their sins.” They could not protect themselves against His punishment: “God is mighty, severe in retribution.”