Commentary
And when He gave him what He freed him with for worship and granted him wealth that he has no need for, it caused his saying, commanding what is comprehensive for the essentials of gratitude: ﴿So pray﴾ meaning by cutting off ties from the creation by standing before Allah in the presence of vigilance, in gratitude for the favor of the Benefactor, contrary to the heedless of it and the showy in it.
And [when] He came with the manifestation of greatness for the increase of giving, it caused the command regarding what is for the King of exaltation. And his ﷺ command was existential with no refusal with it. The attention was drawn to the attribute of benevolence that necessitates encouragement and turning towards what is beneficial from affection, along with the explicit declaration of monotheism, and the indication that worship does not occur except in gratitude. So He, the Exalted, said: ﴿For your Lord﴾ meaning the One who is gracious to you with that secretly and openly, opposing whoever you wish, so there is no way for anyone against you. ﴿And sacrifice﴾ meaning to spend for Him the abundance of wealth on the needy, contrary to not leaving them and preventing them from the small kindness, for indeed, the sacrifice is the best of expenditures among the Arabs, for a single camel suffices a hundred needy. And when the Arabs release wealth, it turns to camels. Therefore, He expressed this intended meaning with sacrifice to make them understand the prohibition of what they used to do of slaughtering for idols. And from its meaning also is to show humility, neediness, and submissiveness in prayer by placing the right hand on the left under the neck in the manner of the humble submissive. And in this, He has matched four from Surah Al-Din with four, which are: stinginess in giving, neglecting prayer with the command for it, showing off with the specification of the Lord, and withholding zakat with sacrifice.
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