And when He, glorified and exalted is He, concluded with the encompassing knowledge of the hidden and the apparent in the news of the message, He specified it in His saying as a response to one who says: Who is the messenger mentioned by name: ﴿Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah﴾, meaning: the king who has no equal, for he is the messenger who has no messenger equal to him; because he is a messenger to all of creation, from those who reached his time by action in this world and from those who preceded him with strength in it and by action in the Hereafter on the day when all will be under his banner. And a covenant was taken from all the prophets that they would believe in him if they reached him, and the prophets took that from their nations. The mercy that encompasses all things is not written except for one who is known by the encompassing knowledge to believe in him. So, no doer of good deeds does a good deed except that he has a reward like it, whether that doer has preceded or followed, whether he is from the people of the heavens or from the people of the earth. This is a matter that only Allah, glorified and exalted is He, can enumerate. He indicated this by this name specifically in Surah Muhammad, that he ﷺ is the seal - as indicated by the letter 'm' whose exit is the end of exits, and it encompasses what his form indicates. It was repeated in the name afterwards for the utmost emphasis, and it is three - as indicated by his name: Ahmad - to show that while he is the seal, he is also the opener, as indicated by his saying ﷺ: "I was the first of them created and the last of them resurrected." And Surah As-Saff specifically addressed this to balance that with the explicit mention of the one who gives glad tidings of him, blessings and peace be upon him, in his saying: ﴿A messenger will come after me whose name is Ahmad﴾ [As-Saff: 6]. The letter 'm' also indicated his sending at the age of forty, and what remains of his letters is 'hamd' which conveys to him the completeness of praise through action in the second and fifty years of his life, which is the twelfth year of his prophethood with the pledge of the Ansar, may Allah be pleased with them. This Surah hinted at the word of sincerity, alluding to what it mentioned of the word of the message explicitly, and it concealed the might of the Divine and the Muhammadan mercy appeared, as the fighting indicated the message allusively [and explicitly stated the might of the Divine] with the word of sincerity, which arises from fighting explicitly. A brief mention of the secrets of the two words was previously presented in fighting. And when he mentioned the messenger, he mentioned those sent to them, saying: ﴿And those who are with him﴾, meaning: with the companionship of his companions and the goodness of following from those who follow them in righteousness. And when the honor of the people is an honor for their leader, He praised them with what encompasses them, saying: ﴿Severe against the disbelievers﴾, so they are not taken by pity for them, rather they are with them like a lion upon its prey; because Allah commanded them to be harsh against them ﴿And merciful among themselves﴾ like a parent with a child; because Allah, exalted is He, commanded them to be gentle with the believers, and there is no believer in their time except one who was from the people of their religion, so he loves them and they love him by the testimony of the verse of Al-Ma'idah.

And when this was contrary to what was described about the past nations, that they only differed after knowledge had come to them, out of envy among them, it was astonishing. This is supported by the one who carries it with his saying: ﴿You see them﴾ meaning: O you who looks at them ﴿bowing and prostrating﴾ meaning: constantly in submission. Most of their times are in prayer, and the characteristic of the angels has dominated their animalistic traits. Thus, prayer has commanded them towards good, purifying them from every deficiency and harm.

And when prayer is something that can be affected by showing off, He clarified their sincerity with His saying: ﴿seeking﴾ meaning: they seek through that and other than it from all their conditions with the utmost effort, prioritizing their minds over their desires and interests ﴿a bounty﴾ meaning: an increase in good ﴿from Allah﴾ meaning: the One who encompasses the attributes of perfection and beauty, who granted them the quality of harshness towards the disbelievers by what He bestowed upon them from His majesty, and tenderness towards His allies by what He granted them from His mercy, which He prepared them with for doing good to His dependents. They removed desires from their hearts, so they began to see Him alone as their Master, the Benefactor towards them, not seeing any other Master or Benefactor. And when He mentioned their worship and their seeking for an increase from it and from other than it from the bounty of Allah, which cannot be attained to His worship except by His assistance, He followed it with the highest request saying: ﴿and a pleasure﴾ meaning: a great pleasure from Him.

And when He mentioned the abundance of their worship and followed it with their sincerity in it, showing that He does not accept any action without it, He indicated its abundance with His saying: ﴿Their mark﴾ meaning: their sign which does not leave them ﴿on their faces﴾. Then He clarified the sign with His saying: ﴿from the trace of prostration﴾. It is light on the Day of Resurrection - narrated by Al-Tabarani from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. This is along with what they have of similar signs in this world from the effects of humility and awe, such that when one of them is seen, it inspires the remembrance of Allah. And when he recites, his recitation brings about sadness, humility, and submission, even if he is in a poor state and has a bad appearance. It should not be thought that among the signs is what some of the show-offs create as a mark of prostration on their forehead, for that is among the signs of the Khawarij. In the end of Ibn Al-Athir's [Tafsir] of the mark of prostration: And among it is the hadith of Abu Darda, may Allah be pleased with him, who saw a man with a mark between his eyes like the mark of a goat. He said: If this were not there, it would be better - meaning he had the mark of prostration on his forehead, and he disliked it out of fear of showing off with it. And the one who narrated from the owner of Al-Firdaws from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, I dislike a man and I hate him when I see between his eyes the mark of prostration."

And when he completed describing them with this matter that no one can attain except for whom Allah has purified from all his desires and lusts, he indicated to his exaltedness and said: "That" meaning: this very high description, truly unique, and far-reaching in attainment, "is their example in the Torah." For it has been said therein: Our Lord came to us from our cause and shone for us from the mountain of Seir, and appeared to us from the mountain of Paran, with the pure ones on His right. He granted them and made them beloved to the nations and blessed all of His pure ones while they follow your traces. So, His appearance from Paran is explicit in the prophethood of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him; for no one came from it - which are the mountains of Mecca by their consensus - after the descent of the Torah in prophethood except him, blessings and peace be upon him. And the pure ones are an indication of the multitude of his nation, and that they are in purity like the angels. This is supported by their being made of the people of the right and their description of being beloved to the nations. All of that indicates what they have been described with from us as a testimony of existence - this is alongside what I found in the Torah after their alteration of what they changed from it and their concealment, as Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said about many. And the companions of the conquests of the lands narrated in the conquest of Jerusalem from Ka'b al-Ahbar that the reason for his Islam was that his father had informed him that he had stored two papers which he placed in a niche and clay upon them, and commanded him to act upon them after his death. He said: So when he died, I opened them and found in them: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, the Seal of the Prophets, there is no prophet after him, his birth in Mecca, and his migration to Ta'if, he is not harsh nor coarse, nor is he loud in the markets, nor does he repay an evil deed with an evil deed, but he repays an evil deed with a good deed and pardons and forgives and overlooks. And indeed, his nation is the Hamadun, those who praise Allah in every matter and in every state, and they humble their tongues with glorification, and Allah supports their Prophet against everyone who opposes him. They wash their private parts with water, and they prefer their middle parts, and their offspring are in their chests. They eat their offerings in their bellies and are rewarded for them. Their compassion among themselves is like the compassion between a mother and a father, and they are the first to enter Paradise on the Day of Resurrection from the nations. They are the foremost, the close ones, the intercessors, and for whom intercession is accepted.

Its origin is in the authentic narration from Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with both of them, and in Al-Darimi from Ka'b. And for the companions of the conquests from Samurah ibn Hushab from Ka'b, he said: I said to Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, while he was in Sham at his departure: O Commander of the Believers! It is written in the Book of Allah: "Indeed, this land in which the Children of Israel were, and they were its inhabitants, is open to a man from the righteous, merciful to the believers, severe against the disbelievers. His secret is like his public, and his public is like his secret. His words do not contradict his actions, and the near and the far are equal to him in truth. His followers are monks by night and lions by day, compassionate and mutually supportive." Umar said: May your mother mourn you. Is what you say true? I said: Yes, by the One who revealed the Torah to Musa and who hears what we say! It is indeed true. Umar said: So praise be to Allah who has honored us and distinguished us and honored us and had mercy on us through Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and His mercy which encompasses all things. This is on the condition that what is meant by the like is the description, and it may be in its reality. And what is in the Torah is what I have translated: "They are against their enemies like iron horns, and among them in benefit and communication like water and pure earth, and for their Lord like the growth of crops with the wind and the sincere friend, and in their inclination towards the Hereafter like the traveler who is pale and weeping." So he expressed it in our Book with what has been mentioned.

And when he mentioned their example in the first Book, he followed it with the second Book which abrogates it to indicate that he has taken upon every abrogator of his Shari'ah to describe them to his Ummah so that they may follow them when they call them. He said: "And their example in the Gospel," meaning: that which Allah has abrogated some of the rulings of the Torah with. "Like a seed," meaning: like a seed. "Which brought forth its shoots," meaning: its offspring and its leaves and what has emerged around its roots. So all of that is its example.

And when he mentioned this emergence, he caused his saying: ﴿So he supported him﴾. That is: the shoots surrounded him, so they strengthened him and purified him from any plant that grew from him that would weaken him. They equaled him and aligned with him and assisted him. It appears that the reading of the hamzah with lengthening in the form of mu'ālah is more eloquent than the reading of Ibn 'Amir with shortening; because when the action is between two that are pulling at each other, the effort in it is greater. Then he caused from the support his saying: ﴿So it thickened﴾. That is: the mentioned one sought from the crop and the shoots thickness and brought it forth. Thus, the result of that was his uprightness ﴿So it became upright﴾. That is: there was in it a great uprightness as if it was to the utmost of effort and treatment ﴿on its stalk﴾. That is: its cane, the plural of stalk, which is what the thing stands upon, while this mentioned one is from the crop and the shoots ﴿pleasing the farmers﴾. And it is permissible for it to be a new beginning for astonishment at it and exaggeration in praising it and showing joy in its matter. And if it pleased them while they are in the utmost care for its matter and checking its condition and being involved with it and knowing its meanings, it would be even more pleasing to others. And he likened that they would be few and then increase with the joy in the eyes of the observer for what they have of the beauty that originates from the light of faith and the stability of tranquility and certainty and the strong agreement among some of them with others, and the negation of the opposers to them and their distancing. And it has been mentioned in this book at the end of Al-Ma'idah examples that were drawn in the Gospel regarding the crop, the closest of which to this is the example of the mustard seed, so refer to it.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, concluded their example, He mentioned the fruit in making them likewise and said: ﴿to provoke﴾. He is linking it to what is taken from the meaning of the words, which is making them likewise in order that it may provoke ﴿with them﴾. That is: a severe provocation of great strength and firmness ﴿the disbelievers﴾. This is because when they were initially few, the disbelievers were hoping that their matter would not be completed. So, whenever they increased in number with the passage of time, the provocation of the disbelievers against them increased. So how if they saw with the increase and strength from them beauty, freshness, and splendor? It would be in provocation from what if they had been many at the beginning; because it would have been repelled and its time would be short. So whoever hated a companion, fear is upon him of disbelief; because they are the first intended by the verse, and others are intended secondarily and consequently. And whoever hated all of them was a disbeliever. And if we took it upon others, it would be an indication that whoever opposed the consensus has disbelieved - this was said by Al-Qushayri.

And when their example was completed and the reason for making them so was established, He gave them glad tidings and said in the place of His promise to link the promise with the description, according to the habit of the Qur'an, encouraging adherence to it and warning against neglecting it: "Allah has promised" that is: the Greatest King, "those who have believed." And since the speech was about those with him, blessings and peace be upon him, and the companionship was evident in the unity of religion, it did not include the hypocrites. Therefore, the concern for the specification with them here was not like the concern for it in Surah An-Nur. He delayed it and advanced the action; for the attention to it here is greater, because it is among their mentioned characteristics. He said: "and they did good deeds" that is: confirming their claim of being with him in religion, "the righteous." And since His saying "with him" encompasses as it has been mentioned after the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and since the deficiency among those after them was great, He specified with His saying: "from them" that is: from those who were with him, blessings and peace be upon him, whether they were from the original stock or their offspring which they produced, and they are the followers of them with goodness.

And when man, even if he strives, falls short of attaining what is due to him of worship, he indicates this by his saying: ﴿forgiveness﴾ meaning: for what occurs from them of lapses or sins and misdeeds ﴿and a great reward﴾ after that concealment. This concluding verse of this surah has gathered all the letters of the alphabet as a hint along with what it contains of explicit good tidings regarding the unity of their affair and the elevation of their victory. This is because when this Umrah was achieved for them, they faced a setback in returning before reaching their intended goal of entering the honored Mecca and performing Tawaf around the ancient house. This was not due to a fault that came from them, as was the case in the Battle of Uhud, as previously explained in Al-Imran, which is the surah of monotheism, whose word (p-347) is the word of piety at the second verse of this. He, glorified and exalted is He, gave them glad tidings of what is in this surah of apparent good tidings explicitly and what is in this concluding verse of its gathering of all the letters of the alphabet, hinting that their affair must certainly come to completion, and its path will intensify and unfold, and its matter will be consistent and organized, and its banners and flags will flutter. He began it with the letter 'M' of 'Muhammad,' which is rounded, and concluded it with the letter 'M' of 'great,' which is in the accusative, indicating that the completion of the matter has drawn very near, its time has arrived, and with what is at its beginning of the rounding to a constant elevation in much praise, and with what is at its end of the accusative to the completion of the opening and its spread, its proximity and its fame, in a great manner, and honor in a significant elevation. The rotation of it hinted that it is a matter without end; rather, every time it is concluded, it begins anew. And it has appeared from this and from the explicit verse of the strength that honors the believers and humiliates the disbelievers, returning its section to its beginning with the victory for the Prophet ﷺ and the great tranquility for his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and mercy, forgiveness, and great success for all his followers, supporters, and allies, may Allah, the Exalted, be pleased with them all, and may He make us among them by His grace and generosity. This is the end of the first part of the Qur'an, which is the lengthy one, and it has been concluded - as you see - with two surahs that are indeed for the Prophet ﷺ, and their essence is the victory for him by the sword (p-348) and the triumph over those who fought him outwardly, just as the second detailed part was concluded with two surahs that are support for him ﷺ in the situation against those who intended harm to him inwardly - and Allah is the guide to what is right, and to Him is the return and the abode. And blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and his family and companions.