And when every person who believed was selling himself and his wealth to Allah, because Allah has purchased from the believers their souls and their wealth, and some of those who are firm in faith did not give faith its due in fighting with their souls and their wealth as Abu Bakr may Allah be pleased with him did. As for his wealth, it was by giving up all of it, and as for his soul, it was in what he subjected it to of horrors, until the Prophet blessings and peace be upon him would say to him in some situations: 'Stay in your place and benefit us with your soul.' And he would say to him and to Umar may Allah be pleased with them that they were of the religion in the position of hearing and sight. And Abu Bakr may Allah be pleased with him on the night of the cave would mention the pursuit and would delay, and the watch would advance, and what was from the sides he would turn to it. And among them were those who fulfilled this battle and those before it, so Allah intended to mention them and praise them as a fulfillment of what He prefers for them, and as an encouragement for others. So He made it apparent and did not conceal it so that it would not be restricted to those mentioned earlier, and He specified this battle by saying: 'Among the believers' meaning the complete ones, 'men' meaning in the utmost greatness in our sight. Then He described them by saying: 'They have been true.'

And when the covenant was with those of high aspirations and pure morals, due to their intense remembrance of Him and their preservation of the fulfillment of it, and their perception of it for them until it was as if it were a great man standing before them, demanding from them truthfulness, He attributed the action to Him and said: 'What they have pledged to Allah' who encompasses knowledge, ability, majesty, and greatness 'upon Him' meaning from the sale of their souls and their wealth to Him by entering into this religion which was built upon that, so they fulfilled it with complete fulfillment. And in this is a reference to Abu Lubabah ibn Al-Mundhir may Allah be pleased with him, who was among the foremost of the believers firm in the description of faith, where he stumbled in his indication to Banu Qurayzah that what was meant by them was slaughter, as was mentioned earlier in Al-Anfal in His saying: 'O you who have believed, do not betray Allah and the Messenger or betray your trusts' [Al-Anfal: 27]. So he went from that time and tied himself to a pillar of the mosque in confirmation of his truthfulness until Allah accepted his repentance and the Messenger of Allah blessings and peace be upon him released him with his noble hand.

And when he mentioned the truthful, it was sometimes understood that truthfulness can only be through killing. He divided them into two categories, indicating the contrary by his saying: ﴿So among them is he who has fulfilled his vow﴾, meaning he has given his ﴿vow﴾ in his covenant that he will support the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and die for him. He completed that and was released from his obligation by being killed as a martyr. Thus, there remained no vow upon him, like Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, Mus'ab ibn Umair, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Sa'd ibn al-Rabi', and Anas ibn al-Nadr, who was absent from the Battle of Badr and said: 'I missed the first battle in which the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, fought. If Allah grants me to witness a battle, He will see what I do.' So when those who were defeated in the Battle of Uhud were defeated, he said: 'O Allah, I declare myself free from what these have brought - meaning the polytheists - and from what these have done - meaning those who were defeated among the Muslims.' And he fought until he was killed after suffering eighty wounds from a blow with a sword, a stab with a spear, and a shot with an arrow. Al-Bukhari narrated from Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: 'We see that these verses were revealed regarding Anas ibn al-Nadr: ﴿Among the believers are men﴾.' And others who were killed before this in the Battle of Uhud and others, and Sa'd ibn Mu'adh was among those who were wounded in this battle and judged against Banu Qurayzah with death and captivity. He did not honor their alliance for his people, nor did he obey his people in advising him to spare them, as Abdullah ibn Ubayy the hypocrite spared Banu Qaynuqa. Nor did he feel compassion for them out of anger for Allah and for His Messenger, may Allah be pleased with him. And among those who were not killed during the time of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was Talhah ibn Ubaydullah, one of the ten, may Allah be pleased with them. He stood firm in Uhud and did what no one else did. He adhered to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and did not part from him, and he defended him and shielded him with his hand until his finger was paralyzed. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, testified that he was among those who fulfilled their vow. The intended meaning of the vow here is the covenant which is like a vow leading to death. The root of the vow is striving in action, and from here it was used in the context of a vow because it is the motivator for that. ﴿And among them﴾, meaning the truthful, ﴿is he who is waiting﴾ for the fulfillment of the vow, either through victory, or death as a martyr, or complete and absolute following.

And when the hypocrites deny that anyone is truthful in what he shows of faith, Allah confirmed His saying indirectly about them: "And they did not change anything." That is, they did not commit any act of alteration due to delay or negligence. This is a clear statement praising the people of truth, and a hint of condemnation towards the people of hypocrisy, contrary to what has preceded. Al-Bukhari narrated from Zayd ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: When we abrogated the scrolls with the manuscripts, a verse from Surah Al-Ahzab was lost, which I often heard the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, recite. I did not find it with anyone except with Khuzaymah Al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him, whose testimony the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, made equivalent to the testimony of two men: "Among the believers are men who have been true to what they pledged to Allah." And his saying: "We abrogated the scrolls" refers to those that were with Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, after the death of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, "in the manuscripts" that Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, ordered. And his saying: "I did not find it" means not written down as evidence of its memorization. This indicates that when he abrogated the manuscripts in the time of Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, they were not satisfied with the scrolls. Rather, they included what was scattered among the people of what was written by the command of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and in his presence, just as they did when they gathered the scrolls in the time of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them all.