And when He, glorified and exalted is He, advanced towards them in this, and their tongues had become accustomed to oaths without intention, to the extent that they could not stop doing so except with great training and long treatment. And among what Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has shown mercy to this nation is the forgiveness of what they have erred in without intending it. He said in response to one who seemed to ask about that: ﴿He does not hold you accountable﴾ meaning He does not punish you. Its reality is that He treats you as one who debates a person in that each of them wants to take the other to account for a sin he has committed against him. ﴿Allah﴾ then repeated the greatest name that He mentioned in the context of restriction and prevention, indicating that His greatness does not prevent forgiveness. ﴿By idle words﴾ which is what the tongues hasten to say without any intended determination - this was said by al-Harali.

﴿In your oaths﴾ for that does not indicate contempt, but perhaps it indicates love and reverence.

And when He clarified what He permitted, He clarified what He prohibited, saying: ﴿But He will hold you accountable﴾ and the expression is valid for sin and expiation. And since the motive for the oath is mostly worldly benefits which are sustenance, and since earning is applied to seeking sustenance and to intention and accuracy, He expressed it by saying: ﴿By what your hearts have earned﴾ meaning what they intended. ﴿Hearts﴾ (p-287) thus, intention is combined with the wording.

Al-Harali said: So this would be an inner determination and an outward saying, and one is held accountable for their combination. Thus, in general, there is an elevation for one who does not swear by Allah with intention or idle words, and that is what has preserved the sanctity of swearing by Allah. In contrast, there are those who swear to do good that they will not do - this has ended.

And He did not clarify the expiation here explicitly, indicating that they should be more pious than to be prevented from something and then commit it. And He hinted at it in the case of the oath as will come.

And when the mention of accountability is a severance for the hearts of the fearful, He reassured them with His saying, manifesting the place of concealment, indicating that His mercy has preceded His anger: ﴿And Allah﴾ meaning with what He has of greatness ﴿is Forgiving﴾ meaning He conceals the sins of His servants if they repent.

And since the context is for accountability which is the treatment of each of the disputants with his companion by taking him to account, forbearance is the most suitable of things for that, so He said: ﴿Forbearing﴾ (p-288) He does not hasten them with accountability, and forbearance is the bearing of the higher for the harm from the lower. It is also the lifting of accountability from one who deserves it due to a crime against a great right - this was said by al-Harali.