And when it became clear through this severe prohibition against killing intentionally; and what is in killing by mistake from the accountability that necessitates verification; and the matter had become apparent in fighting; and killing in jihad; and confirmed by various types of confirmation; and perhaps the situation had become confusing; he followed that with the clarification of the matter of verification; in response to one who might have said: What should we do between the matters of advancing and refraining? He said: ﴿O you who have believed﴾; indicating with a tool of distance; and expressing in the past; which is for the lowest ranks; that the firmly rooted do not need further confirmation in discipline; and how beautiful is the reference to His saying (glorified and exalted is He): ﴿And urge the believers﴾ [An-Nisa: 84]; indicating from Him (glorified and exalted is He) that they are affected by His urging ﷺ; and they submit to His command; as indicated by the word 'if'; in His saying (glorified and exalted is He): ﴿If you strike﴾; meaning: if you travel; and move in the land; ﴿for the cause of Allah﴾; meaning: for Him who has all perfection; sincerely for His sake; ﴿then verify﴾; meaning: seek with deliberation; and verification; the clarification of matters; and the steadfastness in their involvement; and the strong pause at their attainment; and that is by distinguishing some from others; and the complete unveiling of their ambiguity; and do not advance except upon what has become clear to you; ﴿And do not say﴾; a saying; let alone what is higher than it; ﴿to one who gives you﴾; meaning: whoever he may be; ﴿the greeting﴾; meaning: he hastened to greet you with the greeting of Islam; yielding; ﴿You are not a believer﴾; meaning: rather, you are a seeker of refuge; so that you may kill him.

And when following desires is highly condemned among the Arabs, he said - reproaching; deterring from such a thing; in the context of the doer of "you say" - ﴿you seek﴾; meaning: while you are seeking with great urgency; by killing him; ﴿for the enjoyment of the worldly life﴾; meaning: by taking what he has of the fleeting spoils; and the transient gains; or by seeking revenge that you had against him; Al-Bukhari narrated in the tafsir; and Muslim in the end of his book; from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with them -: "﴿And do not say to one who has greeted you﴾ he said: (p-367) there was a man with his spoils; and the Muslims caught up with him; so he said: peace be upon you; and they killed him; and took his spoils; so Allah - glorified and exalted is He - revealed concerning that; up to His saying: ﴿for the enjoyment of the worldly life﴾"; and Al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubair; and added: ﴿Thus were you before﴾; you used to conceal your faith; while you were with the polytheists; ﴿So Allah conferred His favor upon you﴾; and made Islam manifest; ﴿So verify﴾; then he explained the prohibition of this state by His saying: ﴿For with Allah﴾; meaning: the One who has majesty and honor; ﴿are many spoils﴾; meaning: He will enrich you with them from what you seek of the fleeting; along with their goodness; then he explained the prohibition from its essence; by His saying: ﴿Thus﴾; meaning: like this one whom you killed; by making him distant from Islam; ﴿You were﴾; and he divided the time of the killing - as is the case - by His saying: ﴿before﴾; meaning: before you spoke the word of Islam; ﴿So Allah conferred His favor upon you﴾; meaning: the One who has all attributes of perfection; ﴿upon you﴾; meaning: by placing acceptance in the hearts of the believers for what you have shown; in compliance with His command - glorified and exalted is He - by that; so He strengthened the matter of faith in your hearts little by little; (p-368) until you became what you are upon in steadfastness in the religion; and the fame of it; and honor; and if He had willed, He would have hardened your hearts; and unleashed them upon you; so they would have killed you; so if the matter is like that; then you must do with those entering the religion of acceptance what He did with you; and this is the meaning of what was caused by the admonition from His saying - emphasizing what has passed; informing of the gravity of the matter of killing -: "So verify"; meaning: the matters; and be certain in them until they become clear; then he explained this matter by His saying - encouraging and warning -: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾; meaning: the One who is characterized by being the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed; ﴿is All-Aware of what you do﴾; meaning: He knows what you have done; whether through clarification; or otherwise; so beware of Him by preserving your inner selves; and your outward appearances.