Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL ANFAAL [55]

55. Verily, the worst of living creatures before Allah are those who disbelieve, -- so they shall not believe. 56. They are those with whom you made a covenant, but they break their covenant every time and they do not have Taqwa. 57. So if you gain the mastery over them in war, then disperse those who are behind them, so that they may learn a lesson.   Allah states here that the worst moving creatures on the face of the earth are those who disbelieve, who do not embrace the faith, and break promises whenever they make a covenant, even when they vow to keep them,

(and they do not have Taqwa) meaning they do not fear Allah regarding any of the sins they commit.

(So if you gain the mastery over them in war), if you defeat them and have victory over them in war,

(then disperse those who are behind them,) by severely punishing ï´¿the captured peopleï´¾ according to Ibn `Abbas, Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Ad-Dahhak, As-Suddi, `Ata' Al-Khurasani and Ibn `Uyaynah. This Ayah commands punishing them harshly and inflicting casualties on them. This way, other enemies, Arabs and non-Arabs, will be afraid and take a lesson from their end,

(so that they may learn a lesson. ) As-Suddi commented, ”They might be careful not to break treaties, so that they do not meet the same end.''