﴿And indeed, Allah took﴾; meaning: by what He has of all majesty; greatness; and perfection; ﴿the covenant of the Children of Israel﴾; meaning: the binding covenant by which it was taken from you; of hearing; and obedience; ﴿And We raised﴾; meaning: by what We have of greatness; ﴿from them twelve leaders﴾; meaning: a witness; for each tribe, a leader who guarantees them to fulfill what is upon them of fulfilling it - just as We raised from you on the night of Al-Aqabah twelve leaders; and We took from you the covenant on what Islam has referred to - as Ka'b ibn Malik - may Allah be pleased with him - said regarding his absence from Tabuk: "And indeed, I witnessed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the night of Al-Aqabah; when we pledged to Islam"; and as for its details, they are mentioned in the histories; and "the leader" is one who investigates the conditions of the people; as it is said: "the informant"; because he seeks to know them; and from that are "the virtues"; for they do not appear except by investigating them; ﴿And Allah said﴾; meaning: the One who encompasses all things in power; and knowledge; to the Children of Israel; and He confirmed for their repeated complaints; and their fluctuations; so He said: ﴿Indeed, I am with you﴾; and it is a metaphor for sufficiency; for when the capable one is with someone; it is the same if he is not angered by him.

And when He concluded the encouragement with the companionship; He began to clarify the condition of that; by saying - confirming what has passed -: ﴿If you establish﴾; meaning: you create; ﴿the prayer﴾; meaning: that which is a connection between the servant; and the Creator; with all its conditions; and pillars; and when the intended purpose of spending is to assist by giving; He said: ﴿and you give the zakat﴾; meaning: that which is between the right; and the creatures.

And when the address was with those who believed in Musa - peace be upon him -; and they were at every little moment refraining from following him; or from fully following him; and He - glorified and exalted is He - knew that their inclination after him would be greater; He arranged from eternity that messengers would come to them after him; preserving them from deviation; and correcting their inclination; He said: ﴿And you believed in My messengers﴾; meaning: you continued to believe in Musa - peace be upon him -; and you renewed your belief in whoever comes after him; so you affirmed them in all that they command you with; ﴿and you supported them﴾; meaning: you defended them; and you helped them; and you prevented them with the strongest prevention; and "support"; and "aiding"; are from one category.

And when it was from the greatest affirmations of faith; and the support of the messengers is the giving of wealth; it is the proof; He said: ﴿And you have lent Allah﴾; meaning: the One who encompasses every beautiful description; ﴿a good loan﴾; meaning: by spending in all paths of goodness; and the greatest of them is jihad; and aiding in it for the weak; and when man is a place of deficiency; he does not cease from slipping; or shortcoming; even if he strives in righteous deeds; He said - closing with the answer to the oath; which the 'lam' that precedes the condition has prepared; forming the answer to the condition: ﴿I will surely cover﴾; meaning: I will surely conceal; ﴿from you your evil deeds﴾; meaning: your actions; for what is likely to be bad; ﴿and I will surely admit you﴾; meaning: a favor from Me; ﴿into gardens beneath which rivers flow﴾; and when water is only good when it is close; and exposed from some of the land; He said: ﴿from beneath them rivers﴾; meaning: from the intensity of irrigation; ﴿So whoever disbelieves﴾; and when Allah - glorified and exalted is He - does not punish until He sends a messenger; and the destruction from sins after sending is what is connected to death; so it nullifies what came before it; He removed the exception; so He said: ﴿After that﴾; meaning: the condition confirmed by the great matter; ﴿from you﴾; meaning: after what he saw of the signs; and acknowledged with it from the covenants; ﴿has certainly gone astray﴾; meaning: he has left; and wasted; it is used in a limited sense; meaning: "

," and in a transitive sense; as here; ﴿the right path﴾; meaning: that is disbelief after the great clarification; so it is greater than others; and in this is a severe warning for this nation; for the meaning is: if you violate the covenant - as they violated - with a similar entrapment of Sha's ibn Qais and others; we will do to you what we did to them when they violated; from imposing upon them humiliation; and degradation; and other effects of anger; and if you fulfill the contracts; we will give you greater than what we gave them; from the opening of lands; and dominance over other servants; Ibn al-Zubayr said: And for this purpose - and Allah knows best - meaning: the purpose of warning against violating the covenant - the covenant referred to here is mentioned in His saying (the Most High): ﴿And fulfill My covenant﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 40]; so He said (the Most High): ﴿And indeed Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel﴾; until His saying: ﴿has certainly gone astray from the right path﴾; then He clarified their violation; and established the curse; and every trial they were tested with; upon him; so He said: ﴿So because of their breaking of their covenant﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 13]; and He mentioned (the Most High) the covenant of others; so He said: ﴿And from those who said, 'We are Christians,' We took their covenant﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 14]; then He detailed (the Most High) the actions of the two groups for the believers; so they may understand what they violated in their claims regarding the Messiah what they claimed; and their saying: 'We are the children of Allah and His beloved'; and their stopping from opening the holy land; and their excess in killing; and others; and their changing the rulings of the Torah; to other than that which He mentioned in this surah; then He clarified their disparity in distance from responding; so He said (the Most High): ﴿You will surely find the most intense of the people in animosity toward those who believe﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 82]; it has ended." :

And it is appropriate to mention the leaders from these three groups by their names; and what called for that; for the purpose of confirming the matter; and increasing insight. As for the Jews, there were two instances of that: the first: it is said in the fourth book of the Torah: (Indeed, the Lord, blessed is His name, spoke to Moses the Prophet on Mount Sinai; and in the Tent of Meeting; on the first day of the second month; in the second year of the exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt; and Allah said: Count the number of the congregation of the Children of Israel in their tribes; every male from twenty years old and above; everyone who goes out to war; and you and your brother Aaron shall count them; and let there be with you a man from each tribe; and let the man be the chief of his household); then it was clarified afterward that every man among them would be the leader of his group; they would settle according to his settlement around the Tent of Meeting; and they would depart according to his departure; and they would obey him in what he commands; so Moses and Aaron did what Allah commanded them; and they appointed twelve men; as Allah commanded; so from the tribe of Reuben: Elizur son of Shedeur; and from the tribe of Simeon: Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; and from the tribe of Judah: Nahshon son of Amminadab; and from the tribe of Issachar: Nethanel son of Zuar; and from the tribe of Zebulun: Eliab son of Helon; and from the tribe of Joseph; from the family of Ephraim: Elishama son of Ammihud; and from the tribe of Manasseh: Gamliel son of Pedahzur - I said: and Manasseh is (the son of Joseph; and he is the brother of Ephraim) - and from the tribe of Benjamin: Abidan son of Gideoni; and from the tribe of Dan: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; and from the tribe of Asher: Pagiel son of Ocran; and from the tribe of Gad: Eliasaph son of Deuel; and from the tribe of Naphtali: Ahira son of Enan; and the tribe of Levi are the tribe of Moses and Aaron - peace be upon them - they were not mentioned because they were for the preservation of the Tent of Meeting; for Moses and Aaron - peace be upon them - as the Prophet ﷺ was for his people - as will come; and the second instance was to spy out the matter of the Sacred House; it was said during this journey: (And the Lord spoke to Moses and said to him: Send men to spy out the land which I am giving to the Children of Israel; and let them be men from each tribe of their fathers' households; so Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran; by the command of the Lord; men who were leaders of the Children of Israel; and these are their names; from the tribe of Reuben: Shammua son of Zaccur; and from the tribe of Simeon: Shaphat son of Hori; and from the tribe of Judah: Caleb son of Jephunneh; and from the tribe of Issachar: Igal son of Joseph; and from the tribe of Ephraim: Hoshea son of Nun; and from the tribe of Benjamin: Palti son of Raphu; and from the tribe of Zebulun: Gaddiel son of Sodi; and from the tribe of Joseph from the tribe of Manasseh: Gaddi son of Susi; and from the tribe of Dan: Ammiel son of Gemalli; and from the tribe of Asher: Sethur son of Michael; and from the tribe of Naphtali: Nahbi son of Vophsi; and from the tribe of Gad: Geuel son of Machi); these are the ones whom he sent; and he instructed them.

As for the Christians, in the Gospel of Matthew, its text states: (And he called - meaning Jesus - blessings and peace be upon him - his twelve disciples; and he gave them authority over all unclean spirits; to cast them out and to heal all diseases); and in the Gospel of Mark: (And he went up to the mountain; and called those whom he loved; and they came to him; and he chose twelve to be with him; and to send them out to preach; and he gave them authority over healing diseases; and casting out demons); and in the Gospel of Luke: (And he called the twelve apostles; and gave them power; and authority over all demons; and to heal the sick; and he sent them to preach the kingdom of Allah; and to heal the infirmities; and these are their names: Simon; who is called Peter; and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee; and John his brother - and it was said in the Gospel of Mark: and he named them (p-54) the Sons of Thunder; who are the sons of the storm - and Philip; and Bartholomew; and Thomas; and Matthew the tax collector; and James the son of Alphaeus; and Thaddeus; who is called Judas; and there was a difference among the Gospels regarding this; in the Gospel of Mark, instead of him: Thaddeus; and in the Gospel of Luke: Judas the son of James; then they agreed: and Simon the Zealot - and in the Gospel of Luke: the one called the Zealous - and Judas Iscariot; who betrayed him); and as for the leaders of Islam, they were on the night of the last pledge; when "the Prophet ﷺ was pledged by the Ansar - may Allah be pleased with them - for war; and to protect him if he reached their city; and he said to them ﷺ: 'Bring forth from among you twelve leaders; who will be over their people; as Moses chose from his people'; and they brought forth from them twelve leaders: nine from Khazraj; and three from Aws; and he said to them: 'You are over your people as guardians; like the guardianship of the disciples of Jesus the son of Mary; and I am a guardian over my people'; they said: Yes;" and these are their names: from Khazraj: Abu Umamah; As'ad ibn Zurarah; Sa'd ibn al-Rabi'; Sa'd ibn Ubadah; Abdullah ibn Rawahah; Rafi' ibn Malik ibn al-Ajlan; and Al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur; and Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram; Abu Jabir; and Ubadah ibn al-Samit; and Al-Mundhir ibn Amr; and from Aws: Usayd ibn Hudhayr; and Sa'd ibn Khaythamah; and Rifa'ah ibn Abd al-Mundhir; and Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan; Ibn Hisham said: And Ka'b ibn Malik mentioned them in what Abu Zayd al-Ansari recited to me; and he mentioned Abu al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihan; and did not mention Rifa'ah; so he said:

'Inform Ubayy that he said his opinion ∗∗∗ And the morning of the people and the time is imminent

'Allah has denied what your soul has wished for you ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ In the watch of the matter of people is a seer and a listener

'And inform Abu Sufyan that we have seen ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ With Ahmad, a light from the guidance of Allah shining

'So do not desire a gathering of a matter you want ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ And rally and gather all that you are gathering

'And know that breaking our covenants ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ Is a father to you when they pledge

'It is a father to Al-Bara' and Ibn Amr both ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ And As'ad denies it for you and Rafi'.

And Sa'd is the father of Al-Sa'idi and Al-Mundhir. If you attempt that, it is a challenge. And what of Ibn Rabi'ah if you take his covenant? His Muslim does not allow any greedy person to hope for it. And also, Ibn Rawahah will not give it to you. And his treachery is more poisonous than that. In fulfillment of it, and Al-Qawqali Ibn Samit, with a promise that is far from what you attempt, is a youth. Abu Haytham is also loyal in the same way, fulfilling what he gave of the covenant, submissive. And what of Ibn Hudhayr if you intend it for a desire? Are you not turning away from the madness of delusion? (Surah 56) And Sa'd is the brother of Amr Ibn Awf, for he is a barrier to what you attempt. Those are stars; do not be misled by them. A misfortune in the darkness of the night is rising upon you. As for the leaders of the Jews in the land, only two of them were fulfilled - as will come soon from some of the Torah that is in their hands; and as for the leaders of the Christians, one of them broke - as has been mentioned in His saying: "And they did not kill him and they did not crucify him" [Surah An-Nisa: 157]; and it will come, if Allah wills, in Surah Al-An'am, in His saying: "To warn you by it and whoever reaches" [Surah Al-An'am: 19]; and as for our leaders, all of them fulfilled and were righteous, by the success and help of Allah; for Him is the complete praise.