Tafsir of Ghafir 40:45

"So Allah protected him from the evils of what they plotted."

It is possible that this is a departure (from the previous narrative), and the branching in "Then you will remember" stems from his final statement: "O my people, why is it that I call you..." and so on. Regarding those who consider this [the statement of the believer] to be conjoined to the second "O my people," it is a branching off from the entirety of the discourse. The "ma" (what) in "what they plotted" is an infinitive particle (masdariyyah), and "the evils" (as-sayyi'at) refers to the calamities; meaning, Allah, the Exalted, protected him from the calamities of their plotting.

"And the people of Pharaoh were encompassed by the evil of the punishment."

This refers to Pharaoh and his people, for the mention of them suffices to cover him, as he is the foremost among them in deserving it. It is also possible that "the people of Pharaoh" includes him, may he be cursed, by intending the term to encompass all the disbelieving Copts, just as it was said regarding the saying of the Exalted: "Work, O family of David, in gratitude," that it includes David, peace be upon him. They numbered—according to what Al-Awza'i narrated, though I do not believe it to be authentic—two million six hundred thousand.

It is reported from Ibn Abbas that when this believer declared his faith, Pharaoh intended to kill him, so he fled to a mountain. Pharaoh sent a thousand men in pursuit of him. Some of them reached him while he was praying, with wild beasts surrounding him; when they attempted to seize him, the beasts defended him and devoured them. Others died on the mountain from thirst, and others returned to Pharaoh disappointed, so he accused them, killed them, and crucified them. Thus, the intended meaning of "the people of Pharaoh" here is those thousand men whom he sent to kill him; meaning, the evil of the punishment descended upon them and afflicted them.

"The Fire..."

In the first interpretation, the punishment refers to drowning, whereas in the account narrated from Ibn Abbas, it refers to being devoured by beasts, dying of thirst, killing, and crucifixion. The Fire applies to both, and perhaps that is more appropriate. The annexation (idafa) of "evil" (su') to "the punishment" (al-'adhab) is for the purpose of specification (lamiyyah), or it is an annexation of an adjective to the noun it describes.