Az-Zukhruf: 79

"Or have they devised a plan..." – This is an independent discourse rebuking the polytheists for what they committed of plotting against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The am (or) is munqati'ah (disjunctive), and it contains the meaning of bal (rather) for the purpose of transitioning from the rebuke of the people of the Fire to the narration of the offense of these [polytheists]. The hamza is for denial. If the intention by "devising" (al-ibram) is literal firm establishment, then it is a denial of the occurrence and a deeming of it as improbable; but if the intention is figurative firm establishment, then it is a denial of what actually occurred and a deeming of it as abhorrent. That is: "Rather, the polytheists of Makkah have devised a plan of their plotting and scheming against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace."

"Then We are the ones who devise" – Our plotting is real, not theirs, or: We are devising Our plan against them in reality, just as they devised their plot in appearance. This is like the saying of the Exalted, "Or do they intend a plan? But those who disbelieve - they are the ones who are being plotted against." The verse points to what they attempted of planning to kill him, upon him be blessings and peace, at the Dar al-Nadwah, and what came from Him, the Almighty and Majestic, of destroying them.

It is said: It is a continuation of the previous discourse. The meaning is: Or have they devised a plan in rejecting the truth and turning it away, not contenting themselves with merely hating it? Then We are devising a plan to recompense them. If that [previous passage] was an address to the people of the Fire, then the devising of a plan to recompense them is their eternal stay in the Fire in a state of torment. If it was an address to the Quraysh, then it is their abandonment and the granting of victory to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, over them. It is as if it were said: "We are devising a plan to recompense them and to manifest your affair." In this is an indication that their devising does not benefit them, nor does it avail them anything at all. The shift from the address in "most of you" to the third person in "have they devised" – according to this view – is to signal that this [act] is worse than their hatred. This is supported by what was mentioned first, according to what has been said, regarding the saying of the Exalted: [Verse].