And when the decree was: "Indeed, We have written upon them Your obedience; and submission to You in this lenient [religion] that You have called them to; and that You have urged them towards it"; He added to it His saying: ﴿And if We had written upon them﴾; meaning: this adversary of Al-Zubair - may Allah be pleased with him - (p-318) and those similar to this adversary; from among those whose faith is weak; a prescribed writing; ﴿That they should kill themselves﴾; meaning: as was in the Torah; in the expiation of some sins; directly and truly; and as the Emigrants did by exposing themselves to that for thirteen years; they were in it among the enemies of Allah as a morsel of flesh; between the claws of vultures that were snatching it; ﴿Or leave your homes﴾; as the Emigrants did - may Allah be pleased with them -; whom Al-Zubair was one of their leaders; ﴿From your homes﴾; meaning: which are for your shadows as your shadows are for your souls - repentance to your Lord; ﴿What they did﴾; meaning: due to the shortcomings of their faith; and the weakness of their certainty; and if We had written it upon them and they did not accept it, they would have disbelieved; thus they deserved to be killed.

And when every hardship does not lack its relief; He said: ﴿Except for a few of them﴾; meaning: and they are those who know that Allah - glorified and exalted is He - is better for them than their own selves; and that their lives are indeed in His obedience; it has been narrated that among these is Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shamas - may Allah be pleased with him -; he said: "By Allah, indeed Allah knows my truthfulness; if Muhammad had commanded me to kill myself, I would have done it"; and so said Ibn Mas'ud and Ammar ibn Yasir - may Allah be pleased with them -; and it has been narrated from Umar - may Allah be pleased with him - that he said: "By Allah, if our Lord had commanded us, we would have done it; and praise be to Allah who did not do that to us"; and there is no doubt that the decree is: "But We did not write upon them; so let them be grateful to Us; and let them hold fast to this lenient [religion]."

And when the structure of the Surah is based on unity; and the context is for persuasion; He said - encouraging -: ﴿And if only they﴾; meaning: these hypocrites; ﴿Did what they are advised﴾; meaning: they are reminded with the advice at every moment; ﴿It would have been﴾; meaning: their doing that; ﴿Better for them﴾; meaning: than what they have chosen for themselves; ﴿And a stronger affirmation﴾; meaning: than what they have affirmed themselves with by their false oaths;