And when He prohibited transgression, He stated the permissibility of the essence of fighting, so He said: ﴿And kill them﴾ meaning those who fight you ﴿wherever you find them﴾ meaning wherever you encounter them while you hope to prevail or wherever you are able to kill them - this was said by the Asbahanī, because the term 'thaqafa' with the dammah means to be crucified, and 'thaqifa' with the kasrah also means to be skilled and clever. And 'thaqaftu al-shay'a' means I took it, and 'al-shay'a' means I encountered it - this was said by Ibn al-Qatta'ī.

And the Asbahanī said: And 'thaqaf' is its existence in the aspect of taking and overpowering. And he generalized the finding, so it included the lawful and unlawful from time and place, because they do likewise to the Muslims. They used to harm them and tempt them at the House at all times; and in the expression with the action, there is an indication of victory by the party of Allah and good news of the weakness of the enemy regarding the persistence of the resistance of the mujahideen. The experience has shown this, and at least they do not return when they flee.

And when the verse was regarding retribution, He said: ﴿And drive them out﴾ meaning if they do not fight you ﴿from where they drove you out﴾ meaning Mecca, which is the homeland of pilgrimage and Umrah and the place of the intended rituals for the people of Islam.

And when this implies that there was no fighting from them to you in Mecca except for the harm that necessitated leaving the homes, the estimation is: for indeed, the expulsion from the dwelling is a greater trial, and they have tempted you with it. So He added to it His saying: ﴿And the trial﴾ meaning the punishment of expulsion or otherwise from types of fear ﴿is greater﴾ than killing them. It is more general than the intended killing of you by them in the sacred place or otherwise, or killing them of you or otherwise, due to what is in it of the continuation of the grief that constrains the soul from its desires. Therefore, we have permitted you to kill them in retribution due to your expulsion. The intended meaning was specifically their expulsion to enable pilgrimage and Umrah, but since it could only be achieved by fighting them and killing them, permission was granted for both. And the reality has revealed in the matter of: Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, and Safwan ibn Umayyah, and Abdullah ibn Abi Rabī'ah that the expulsion from Mecca softened them towards Islam more than the softness of killing, for they embraced Islam when they were about to leave Mecca with the emergence of Islam therein, and no one from Quraysh embraced Islam out of fear of killing. Therefore, since the context is for their expulsion, it was expressed here as greater.

And when the permission for expulsion generally entails fighting, and He had permitted beginning with it wherever they are found, He specified that by saying, looking at the context and indicating what will occur in the Battle of the Opening, referred to by His saying afterward: "And disbelief in Him and the Sacred Mosque" [Al-Baqarah: 217]. "And do not fight them" means these whom you have been permitted to expel from the Sacred Mosque, that is, the sanctuary, when you intend to expel them and they prevent you, "until they fight you therein" means in that place which is at the Sacred Mosque. It is as if He expressed it with 'therein' in the second instance and 'at' in the first, while the intended meaning is the sanctuary in both cases, to refrain from fighting in it as long as there is a way to refrain, in order to glorify it and show respect for its place, because it is the location of prayer, the greatest of its purposes being prostration, not for anything else, let alone fighting.

"So if they fight you" means in that place, "then kill them" means do not limit yourselves to defending against them, rather strike them with a prepared blow, and there is no blame upon you regarding the Sacred Mosque, for the violation of its sanctity is attributed to the initiator. In the expression of the verb in response to the mutual action in the reading of the majority or the verb in the reading of Hamzah and Al-Kisai, there is an indication of support for the oppressed and the strength of his defeat. And since this implies that it is specific to them, He generalized with His saying: "Thus" meaning like this great and beneficial action, "is the recompense of all the disbelievers."