(When it is said unto them) to the disbelievers when they were in the life of the world: (Bow down) submit to Allah by believing in His divine Oneness, (they bow not down!) they did not submit to Allah by accepting His divine Oneness; it is also said that they will be asked to do so in the Hereafter, when Allah will say to them: " bow down, if you are truthful that you believed in that which you now claim " , this is because they said: " By Allah, our Lord, we were not idolaters ". But they will not be able to bow down and their bodies will remain erect and stiff. It is also said that this verse was revealed about Thaqif who said: " we will not bend down to bow or prostrate ".
