And when the decree was: The Ark came to them in the mentioned manner, they obeyed their Prophet regarding it. They took possession of it and volunteered with him. He went out with them to the enemy and separated with the troops from the place of residence. He referred to his saying: ﴿So when he separated﴾ from separation, which is the cutting off of part from the whole. Its origin is: He separated himself or his troops - or something like that. However, the object has often been omitted due to knowledge of it, so it became used in the manner of intransitive verbs. ﴿Talut﴾ means the one whom they made king. ﴿With the troops﴾ means those whom he chose, and they went out to meet the one they asked to meet due to his disbelief in Allah, along with what he had oppressed them with from various types of oppression.

Al-Harali said: It is the plural of jund, and they are followers who will be a support for the one being followed. ﴿He said﴾, meaning their king: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾ means the one who is greater than Him, and you are going out for His pleasure. ﴿Testing you with a river﴾ of the water which He, glorified and exalted is He, made a source of life for everything. He struck it as a parable for the world, which whoever leans towards it is humiliated, and whoever turns away from it is honored.

Al-Harali said: So Allah made evident on his tongue what He informed their Prophet in His saying: ﴿And He increased him in stature in knowledge﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 247] - ended.

﴿So whoever drinks from it﴾ means fills his belly. ﴿Then he is not of me﴾ means like one who immerses himself in the world, so the punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be supported. ﴿And whoever does not eat it, then he is of me﴾ like one who completely refrains from it. Then he recited this: (p-428) the high rank which has been given special attention due to what follows it from moderation. He said, making an exception for the one: ﴿So whoever drinks﴾ ﴿Except for one who scoops﴾ means he made an effort to scoop. ﴿A scoop with his hand﴾. In the reading with the opening of the ghain, there is an indication of the meaning of its singularity, taking what it has taken from little or much. In the reading with the damm, it indicates filling it. And scooping with the opening means taking with the entirety of the hand, and a scoop is the single action of it. With the damm, it is the name of what the scoop contains. So among those who scooped, there were some who fulfilled the scoop and some who did not fulfill it - Al-Harali said. And he said: So there was an indication in it of classifying them into three categories: those who did not eat it at all, and those are the ones who remained steadfast and believed that they would meet Allah; and those who drank from it, and those are the ones who were tempted and cut off from striving in the way of Allah; and those who scooped a scoop, and they are the ones who remained steadfast and were shaken until they were made firm by those who did not eat.

And when the stories of the Children of Israel were an example for this nation, this nation was tested by the river. They were tested by the flowing river of this world, through which their armies passed by this suggestive inspiration. When they passed by the river of the wealth of the people, their lands, their crops, and their regions on their way to their raids, whoever took from the wealth of the people what he did not have permission from Allah for, was cut off from that army even if he was present. What happened among the Children of Israel (p-429) was evident, and its occurrence in this nation serves as a lesson for it and a disgrace for those. Whoever did not take anything from it at all was worthy of being among that steadfast army. It was said to Ali, may Allah be pleased with him: O Commander of the Believers! Why has your horse never been trampled by you? He said: I have never stepped on the crop of a Muslim.

And whoever took what he had a necessity for, from a place to stay or due to a habitual need that he wishes would not occur, these are the ones who accept the confirmation from those who have been very cautious. The essence of this religion is asceticism in the heart and piety in taking with the hand. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "You are only supported by your weak ones." In the implication of this example and consideration, the greatest of armies is the army that contains among its members those who are pious, in number equal to the steadfast ones from the companions of Talut. By their number, the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, on the day of Badr were three hundred and thirteen, the number of the messengers from the multitude of the prophets. It was said: And in the singularity of the hand, there is an indication that it is the grasp of the right hand because it is the specific hand (p-430) for identification. In considering this, taking from the world should only be with one hand, not with two hands, as both hands encompass the sides of good and evil - this has ended.

So the river presented itself to them as He informed them: "So they drank from it," exceeding the limit of moderation, "except for a few of them." They obeyed, so Allah quenched their thirst and strengthened their hearts. And whoever disobeyed in his drinking was overcome by thirst and was weak for the encounter, so he remained on the bank of the river.

Al-Harali said: And it is mentioned that it was read with the raising, which is an exclusion for them from the drinkers by following, as if the speech (p-431) is based on it, where it became a follower, and its grammatical analysis is what the grammarians neglected, so they did not perfect it. Its ruling is that what is based on exclusion is followed, and what is not based on its exclusion is as if it only returned to it after the harms of the first speech were cut off and was established - this has ended.

And the meaning in the raising is that when the action settled for all, the exception returned to some, and in the following, he intended the exception from the first, so it became as if it were finalized. This reading was attributed by Al-Ahwazi in the book of the irregularities to Al-Amash, and Al-Sameen attributed it in his grammatical analysis to Abdullah and Ubayy, may Allah be pleased with both of them. Sibawayh, may Allah have mercy on him, dedicated in the grammar of half of his book to following such a chapter, which he translated by saying: The chapter of what there is in it except and what follows it is described as being like another and similar, and he indicated this with many verses (p-432) from them:

And every brother who parts from his brother, by the life of your father, except for the two stars. He said: As if he said: And every brother except for the two stars. And he equated this with the verse ﴿The disabled are not equal to those who sit among the believers, other than those who are disabled﴾ [An-Nisa: 95] in terms of elevation and ﴿not of those who have incurred wrath﴾ [Al-Fatiha: 7]. And he permitted in what the people stood except for foam, - with the elevation of the substitute and the description. Al-Radhi said, adhering to his saying: And every brother - the verse, and his saying ﷺ: "All people are doomed except for the scholars, and the scholars are all doomed except for the doers, and the doers are all doomed except for the sincere, and the sincere are in great danger." And Al-Samin said: The difference between the description with 'except' and the description with others is that it is not described by it the known and the indefinite, the apparent and the implicit. And some of them said: It is not described by it except the indefinite and the known with the definite article, for it is in the strength of the indefinite. And when he mentioned their trial by the river, he followed it with the trial of the encounter by the sea of the army and what is in it of the great danger that shakes the hearts, urging to ask for safety and informing of its great rank, as he said ﷺ on the day he presented his noble self to the people of Ta'if and what he was touched by from them of great harm: "If there is no anger upon me from You, then I do not care, but it is broader for me!" So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said: ﴿And when he passed it﴾ meaning the river without drinking, from the passing being mutual from crossing from one bank to another bank. ﴿He and those who believed﴾ meaning they acknowledged faith and passed ﴿with him﴾ and the two groups appeared to each other. ﴿They said﴾ meaning most of them. Al-Harali said: He returned the pronoun in a general manner indicating the abundance of those who scooped and the fewness of those who did not eat, as the pronoun of 'they drank' indicated the abundance of those who drank from it - ended. ﴿We have no strength﴾ from that which is the burden, which is what the doer has become independent with and has not been incapacitated by it. ﴿For us today﴾ meaning upon what we are in of the situation ﴿against Goliath and his soldiers﴾ for what they are in of strength and multitude. Al-Harali said: So in it is something like their saying ﴿And he was not given abundance of wealth﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 247], relying on the fact that victory is by the number of wealth or strength, and it is only by the victory of Allah. Then he said: So if this news is debated by them and the request, meaning as will come in ﴿Our Lord, pour upon us﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 250] by what Allah has taken care of regarding this nation in their army which is likened to this army in Surah Al-Anfal, from the like of his saying ﴿When He covered you with sleep as a security from Him﴾ [Al-Anfal: 11] - the verses, it is great knowledge that Allah has favored this nation with and has felt what will be for it in its end, which is of the greatest news and most complete vision. So to Allah belongs all praise for what He has greatly favored and shown kindness - ended.

And when he informed about them with this saying, he alerted that it should not come from one who thinks that his appointed time is fixed, which does not increase by cowardice and hesitation nor decrease by bravery and initiative. And that he will meet Allah and He will reward him for his deeds. And that victory is from Allah, not by strength and numbers. So he said: ﴿Those who think﴾ meaning they know, but he expressed it with 'thinking' when he mentioned ﴿that they will meet Allah﴾, meaning the One who has majesty and honor. This indicates that it is sufficient in fearing Allah and hoping for Him to think, as it leads to the fleeing of the mind from what it thinks He dislikes, glorified and exalted is He, saving oneself from destruction by that, just as these people indulged in drinking due to their thought of destruction by its absence, and they returned to the thought of destruction by the meeting. And it is permissible that the thought is in its essence and the meeting is interpreted as the good state. ﴿How many a small group﴾ as was the case in this nation on the Day of Badr, ﴿overcame a numerous group﴾. Then he alerted that the cause of victory is obedience and remembrance of Allah by His saying: ﴿By permission of Allah﴾ meaning by the empowerment of the One who has no equal. So it is not appropriate for one who knows that to slacken in His remembrance and to be content with His decree. Then he clarified that the essence of all of that is patience by His saying: ﴿And Allah﴾ meaning the greatest King ﴿is with the patient﴾ and He does not forsake whoever is with Him.