before, that is to say, before revealing it [the Qur’ān], as guidance (hudan, a circumstantial qualifier meaning, hādiyīn, ‘guides from error’) to people, to those who followed these two [Books] (He uses the word anzala for the revelation of these two, and nazzala for that of the Qur’ān, for the latter entails repetition, whereas the two Books were revealed in one instance); and He revealed the Criterion (al-furqān), meaning the Scriptures that discriminate between truth and falsehood. He mentions this [Criterion] after He has mentioned the three Scriptures so that it encompasses all [revealed Scriptures] besides these. As for those who disbelieve in God’s signs, the Qur’ān or any other [revelation], for them awaits a terrible chastisement; God is Mighty, victorious in His affair, so that nothing can prevent Him from effecting His promise and His threat; Lord of Retribution, with a severe punishment for those that disobeyed Him, the like of which none can do.