[3:178] And let not the disbelievers suppose that what We indulge them in is better for their souls. We grant them indulgence only that they may increase in sinfulness, and theirs is a humbling chastisement.
Part of the perfection of the ruse against them and the intensification in their punishment is that We are punishing them even as they do not perceive it. We will increase that degree by degree from whence they know not. We indulge them and they think that it is an act of favor, not considering that it might be an act of revenge. When the underlying forces of the divine preordination emerge to them from their hiding places, they will know that they have lost. It was already clear to anyone possessing insight that that which is the cause of disobedience or the motive for forgetfulness cannot be counted among the acts of favor.