56 Preface الَّذينَ عاهَدتَ مِنهُم ثُمَّ يَنقُضونَ عَهدَهُم في كُلِّ مَرَّةٍ وَهُم لا يَتَّقونَYusuf AliThey are those with whom thou didst make a covenant,1 but they break their covenant every time, and they have not the fear (of God).The immediate occasion was the repeated treachery of the Banū Quraiẓa after their treaties with the Muslims. But the general lesson remains, as noted in the two following verses. Treachery in war is doubly wrong, for it endangers so many lives. Such treachery should be punished in such a way that it gets no chance again. Not only the actual perpetrators but those who follow their standard should be rendered powerless. And the broken treaty should be denounced so that the innocent party can at least fight on equal terms. From actual physical warfare we can carry the same lesson to spiritual warfare. A truce or understanding is possible with those who respect definite principles, not with those who have no principles and are merely out for oppression and wickedness.