(p-3) ﴿In the nearest land﴾ meaning the closest of their lands to your land, O Arabs, and it is at the edges of the Levant. In specifying the place of the victory [over them] is a glad tidings for the Arabs that they will overcome them if they align with them. For their alignment with them will be in such a place. And it has been as such as time has revealed. It is as if He, glorified and exalted is He, is saying to those among the Arabs who rejoiced at the victory of the people of Persia over the Romans to harm the Muslims: Leave this joy which does not align with the resolve of men, and unite your affairs and gather your ranks, so that you may confront them in such a place and be victorious over them. Then they will never resist you again, and you will overcome their lands, cities, fortresses, wealth, women, and children. [And] Imam Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubair said: When He, glorified is He, admonished the people of Mecca and denounced their vile actions in neglecting to reflect upon their state, and that they – despite their small number – Allah has protected their land from those intending to plunder it, and has restrained the hands of the tyrants and the rebellious from them while the hands of the plunderers are reaching out to those around them. And the repetition of this and its continuity is a protection from Him, glorified and exalted is He, for His sanctuary and His House. He said, ﴿Do they not see that We have made a safe sanctuary while people are being snatched away from around them﴾ [Al-Ankabut: 67] meaning: Is this not enough for them in reflection, and do they not realize that this is not due to their strength or good defense, but rather it is by the protection of Allah (p-4) of them by being neighbors to His House and being in the safety of it, despite the fact that they are the least of the Arabs? Do they not see this blessing and respond to it with gratitude and acceptance before His wrath befalls them and He takes away His blessings from them? When He reminded them of this, He followed it with the mention of a group that is greater than them, stronger, and with a wider land, and has been supported against them by others. Their multitude and spread did not benefit them. He said: ﴿Alif Lam Meem﴾ [Ar-Rum: 1] ﴿The Romans have been defeated﴾ [Ar-Rum: 2] ﴿In the nearest land﴾ the verses. He mentioned, glorified and exalted is He, the defeat of others against them, and that they will have a turn, then they will be defeated. And that is only by the victory of Allah for whom He wills of His servants ﴿He grants victory to whom He wills﴾ [Ar-Rum: 5]. If He had unveiled the eyes of those who were in Mecca from the disbelievers, they would have seen that the security of their land and the safety of their offspring and children from what has been unleashed upon those around them from plunder, killing, and the capturing of children and the sanctuary, is indeed by the prevention of Allah and the generosity of His protection for those who are neighbors to His sanctuary and His House. Otherwise, the Romans are greater in number and longer in duration, and yet they repeatedly face massacres and raids, and defeats continue upon them. Should not the people of Mecca be grateful to the One who fed them from hunger and granted them safety from fear?

And also, when He, glorified and exalted is He, said: "And what is this worldly life except amusement and play, and indeed the Hereafter—that is the true life" [Al-Ankabut: 64], He followed that, glorified and exalted is He, by mentioning the fluctuation of its state. He clarifies its decline, and that it does not remain pure nor complete. Its state is always one of fluctuation and lack of stability. He informed about this group, which is among the majority of the people of the earth and the most capable of them, and they are the Romans. They will continue to experience one situation after another. Their state resembles that of amusement and play. Therefore, it is necessary for the wise to consider this and seek to attain the enjoyment of a home whose state does not change, nor is its change and disappearance expected.

"And indeed the Hereafter—that is the true life" [Al-Ankabut: 64]. Among what strengthens this point is His saying, the Exalted: "They know the outward of this worldly life"; meaning, if they knew its inward, they would realize that it is amusement and play. They would understand the matter of the Hereafter: "Whoever knows himself knows his Lord."

And among what testifies to each of the two purposes and supports both matters is His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Have they not traveled in the earth" [Ar-Rum: 9], the verses. If they had done this and contemplated, they would have witnessed from the fluctuation of the conditions of nations and the change of times and generations what would clarify for them the lack of permanence of anyone. They would have realized its amusement and play and known that their state will lead to the state of those who committed their offenses in stubbornness, denial, and bad behavior, leading to destruction. End.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, began with what He obligated for the Romans from defeat by their replacement, expressing about them with the feminine form suitable for their lowliness, He followed it with what He did with them to relieve the good-doers among His servants, with whom He concluded the nations and abrogated by their religion the religions. He granted them victory over all the states. He said, expressing in a way that implies superiority from the pronoun of the rational males: "And they"; meaning the Romans. This indicated partiality and the proximity of time by affirming the preposition. He said, expressing with the preposition as a hint that their superiority will only be in a certain time of distance and will not last: "After their defeat" which was upon them from the defeat of Persia over them. This is from the addition of the source to the object: "They will overcome" Persia. He confirmed His promise with the letter 's'—which is unnecessary for confirmation—following the methodologies of the people regarding what occurred in that from their denial.