And when the permission was restricted for them to the good of provision, the matter required clarification of the bad of it so that it may be avoided. So He clarified explicitly what was prohibited for them of that which the polytheists deemed lawful and prohibited others. He made clear the permissibility of what is besides it, and that it is very abundant, so that the addressee may increase in gratitude. He said: ﴿Indeed, He has only prohibited to you﴾. Al-Harali said: And when the understanding of the believers regarding the requirements of the address is above that of the people, He, the Exalted, addressed them by mentioning what was prohibited for them. This corresponds to what He forbade the people from following the steps of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-shaytan]. He said: ﴿Indeed, He has only prohibited﴾ and He implied it in the name of the Most Great, the First, to inform that the One who permitted them has only prohibited for them what is not suitable for them in any way due to its severe harm to them in encompassing their beings, both their outward and inward. When He mentioned that the prohibited is either for its highness, like the Sacred Land and the prohibition of the matter, or for its baseness, like the prohibition of these prohibited things, then in the word 'Indeed' there is a negation of the imagined things that may be subject to prohibition besides what is mentioned here, as if someone were to say: Such and such has been prohibited, and such and such has been prohibited, similar to what the previous scriptures prohibited or what differing whims prohibited or what a scientific perspective prohibited, like what [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: Isra'il] prohibited for himself. Thus, the understanding was to refute all those prohibitions. The meaning, and Allah, glorified and exalted is He, knows that you have prohibited the [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-wasilah] and the [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-sa'ibah] and others from what Allah has made lawful, and you have made lawful the carrion and the blood and others that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has prohibited. And Allah has not prohibited for you from the [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-sa'ibah] and what is with it from what you have prohibited, nor anything else from what you have made lawful except what this verse has mentioned. And if you refer to what is in His saying, glorified and exalted is He, in the cattle: ﴿So eat from what the name of Allah has been mentioned upon﴾ [al-An'am: 118] and His saying: ﴿And do not eat from what has not been mentioned the name of Allah upon it﴾ [al-An'am: 121] and His saying: ﴿Say, I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything prohibited﴾ [al-An'am: 145], from this Book of mine, you will know the intended meaning of this verse. And He said ﴿the carrion﴾ meaning: that which is called by this name by the people of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: al-'urf], and it is that which the soul has departed from without a legal slaughter, and it is that which is slaughtered. Al-Harali said: And it is that which death has overtaken from the animal due to the decline of strength and the end of life, and it is the most corrupting for the body due to the corruption of its composition by death and the loss of the enjoyment of its parts and its aging and the departure of the spirit of life and purity from it.

﴿And the blood﴾ meaning: the flowing one because it is a substance that has fallen from the state of food and has not yet reached the state of the limbs, so it is a carrion from the specific life of it, fallen in its essence, except for that which Allah has purified completely, as in Muhammad ﷺ and in whom He has removed from him the impurity of the outward and inward by nature and soul.

﴿And the flesh of the pig﴾ is prohibited due to its harm to the soul, just as what preceded it was prohibited due to its detrimental effects on the body. This is because among the wisdom of Allah in His creation is that whoever nourishes his body with the physicality of something, his soul is nourished by the spirituality of that thing. "Pride and arrogance are in the owners of the fur, and tranquility is in the owners of the sheep." So when the pig was endowed with despicable qualities, it was prohibited for one who is preserved from despicable morals. The flesh is what connects the most concealed parts of the animal from the center of its bones to what is reached by its surface from the outer skin. It is known that its predominant usage is on the moisture of the red flesh, and here, according to its original meaning in the language, it encompasses the red flesh, fat, nerves, and veins up to the skin, and what includes the parts of the moistures between the two ends. If its flesh, which is the intended food and is the best of what is in it, is prohibited, then other parts of it are more deserving of prohibition.

And when He prohibited what harms the body and harms the soul, He prohibited what affects the heart. He said: ﴿And what has been dedicated﴾, and dedication is the raising of the voice in the sight of a significant matter. ﴿By it﴾ means: the raising of the one who raises the voice because of it while slaughtering ﴿for other than Allah﴾, meaning: that which has no equal in any way. Al-Harali said: Because what has not been mentioned with the name of Allah is taken from the hand of one upon whom His name has been mentioned, and that is not its creator and owner. Its creator and owner is Allah, who made the mention of His name a permission for benefiting from it. He mentioned regarding the taking of life that it is from His breath, not from one who finds no way to claim it among the creation. The mention of dedication is an indication that what has been announced upon it without the name of Allah is the most severely prohibited. Thus, in understanding this, there is a lightening of the address regarding what is not known from the hidden mention. They said: O Messenger of Allah! Indeed, some people come to us with meat, and we do not know if they mentioned the name of Allah upon it or not. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Mention the name of Allah yourselves and eat." So what is prohibited is not what has not been known that the name of Allah was mentioned upon it, but rather that which is known to have been announced with other than the name of Allah upon it. In the preceding, the implicit prohibition in His saying "by it" emphasizes its meaning because they prioritize what is more important to them, and they are more concerned with its clarification. He said, blessings and peace be upon him: "Begin with what Allah began with." So when this verse is comprehensive, meaning: the prohibition is evident in it, it shows the prioritization of concern for the prohibited, and it is in conveying that it concludes a meaning from that which is delayed in this pronoun.

And when this religion is ease, with no hardship in it and no constraint, the ruling of this prohibition is lifted from the one in need. And since the matter of necessity encompasses a group of creation, He, the Exalted, informed them that what has been lifted from them of the prohibition does not absolve them from all rulings. Rather, with this concession, the position of the rulings remains in transgression and wrongdoing. So He said: ﴿So whoever is compelled﴾ [meaning: he is in need and forced by any necessity] to eat something from what has been prohibited, as he is on the verge of destruction, and he eats from something of it while he is ﴿not transgressing﴾, meaning: not intending corruption with a scheme he devises due to his weakness, taking from that carrion something that is stronger than it, as if he were to substitute it for something else deceitfully to gain the better of it. ﴿And not exceeding﴾ beyond what is necessary to satisfy his hunger and remove his necessity; and it is included in the verse that whoever transgresses against an Imam or intends by striking him in the land corruption or wrongs someone unjustly, and as a result of that he obtains a benefit, it is not permissible for him what was prohibited, because that would be aiding him in his disobedience. If he repents, he is permitted ﴿then there is no sin upon him﴾ neither from the initial prohibition nor from the other ruling. And if the lifting of sin were without these two conditions, there would occur among the compelled ones from transgression and domination what is not permissible for those who are not compelled. Thus, sin is negated based on the correctness of the two matters and the lifting of the two rulings. In ease, one avoids what harms, and in necessity, the necessity of the body is preferred for its sustenance over the ruling of the Book in its establishment. And in understanding that whoever is compelled to something that has been prohibited to him and eats it, no harm befalls him, for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, when He permits something, removes its harm. "Indeed, Allah has not made the cure of my nation in what has been prohibited to them." Thus, there is a warning to change these substances for the one in need from what they were upon until it becomes a concession in appearance and a purification in the heart. Just as He lifted from him the ruling of the written law, His grace will complete and lift from him its natural harm.

Then he explained this ruling, instilling fear and encouragement by saying: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾. He brought this encompassing name as an indication of the generality of this ruling for the one who is compelled and the one who has abundance. In His saying: ﴿Forgiving﴾, there is a hint that no one reaches the state of necessity for what has been prohibited to him except due to a sin he has committed. If it were not for forgiveness, I would have completed his punishment, because the believer or the one who is certain does not experience necessity. This is because Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is not unable to do anything, and the servant of Allah is not unable to do what does not incapacitate his Lord. ﴿And if they were before it to be sent down upon them, certainly in despair﴾ [Ar-Rum: 49]. So, the despair that necessitates a need occurs only for one who is below the rank of certainty and below the rank of faith. 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, equipped an army, and their provisions ran out, so they remained for days sustaining themselves with little until they were sustained by one date at a time. Then Allah brought forth for them the amber, a creature from the sea.' Thus, He did not compel them in their necessity to what has been prohibited to them, but rather He came to them in their necessity with what is the best of their food in times of abundance from the catch of the sea, which 'its water is pure and its dead are lawful.' In His saying: ﴿Merciful﴾, there is news that whoever is compelled and takes from what he was compelled to, without seeking it and does not exceed, he will attain from Allah the mercy of His abundance, so that he will not be compelled thereafter to something similar. He will be forgiven for the previous sin that necessitated the necessity and will receive the expansive mercy that is granted to one who has not committed what was committed by the one who was compelled to something similar - this has ended; and I have elaborated on it.