And when He mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - what was taken from the Jews of the covenant; and His warning to them if they disbelieved after that; He mentioned that they broke it time after time - as has been previously stated in Surah 'Al-Baqarah'; and many others; of it regarding the text of what they have in the Torah - they deserved what they are in of disgrace; so He said (the Exalted) - attributing what has passed; confirming with 'what'; the negating particle for the opposite of what the speech has affirmed -: ﴿So for their breaking of their covenant﴾; meaning: by denying the messengers who came after Musa - peace be upon him -; and killing the prophets; and throwing the Book of Allah behind their backs in concealing the matter of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him; and other than that; not by other than that; as Banu Nadir broke it; so Allah subjected you to them; by what He indicated to them in Surah 'Al-Hashr'; ﴿We cursed them﴾; meaning: We distanced them after We promised them closeness by being with them if they fulfilled.

And when the distant one may be soft-hearted; regretting his distance; striving in the causes of his closeness; remaining in the health of his Lord; it is hoped for him by that forgiveness for his sin; He informed that they are not like that; by His saying: ﴿And We made﴾; meaning: by Our greatness; ﴿their hearts hard﴾; meaning: solid; disobedient with deceit so they are not receptive to advice; because pure gold is soft; and the adulterated one has hardness and rigidity in it; and every soft one is easily receptive to correction; then He clarified their hardness by what indicated their breaking; by His saying: ﴿They distort the words﴾; meaning: they renew every time its distortion; ﴿from their places﴾; for whenever they found something from the words of Allah that testifies to their misguidance, they distorted it to their desires; and they interpreted it with false interpretation by their whims; so they distort the words and their meanings.

And when they had abandoned the essence and the root of what they could not distort due to its clarity; He said - expressing in the past; informing of their deprivation of being free from that -: ﴿And they forgot a portion﴾; meaning: a beneficial share; elevating for them; ﴿of what they were reminded of﴾; meaning: from the Torah; on the tongues of their prophets; 'Isa and those before him - peace be upon them -; they abandoned it like the abandonment of the one who forgets something; due to their little concern for it; such that they had no return to it; and from Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him - that he said: A person may forget some knowledge due to sin; and he recited this verse.

And when He mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - what they do against Him in His words; which is His attribute; He followed it with what encompasses His right and the right of His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in a clarifying manner that their treachery is their habit; as a consolation for him, blessings and peace be upon him, He said: ﴿And you will continue﴾; meaning: by what We inform you of, O most honored of creation; ﴿You will be shown﴾; meaning: it will be made manifest in a profound manner ﴿of treachery﴾; meaning: a great treachery; it deserves to be called its doer a traitor; due to its severity; and ﴿from them﴾; meaning: against you; with the intention of harm; and against Allah, glorified and exalted is He; by concealing some of what He has legislated for them; ﴿except for a few of them﴾; for they will be on the path of uprightness; either by faith; or by loyalty; and they are clinging to disbelief; then He caused this which is against him, blessings and peace be upon him, to lead to His saying: ﴿So pardon them﴾; meaning: erase their sin that they have committed; which is less than abrogation and distortion; so do not punish them for it.

And when forgiveness does not prevent admonition, He said: ﴿And overlook﴾; meaning: and turn away from that completely; do not admonish them for it; just as you did not punish them; for that is a kindness from you; and if you do good, Allah will love you; ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾; meaning: the One who possesses all attributes of perfection; ﴿loves the doers of good﴾; and this - as narrated by the two Shaykhs and others from Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - that the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - was bewitched by a man from the Jews; it is said that his name was Labid ibn al-A'sam; and in a narration by al-Bukhari: he was a man from Banu Zuraiq; an ally of the Jews; and he was a hypocrite - until it was imagined to him that he was coming to women; while he was not coming to them; and that was the most severe form of magic; then Allah (glorified and exalted is He) healed him; and informed him that the magic was in the well of Dharwan; so Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - said to him: Why did you not take it out? He said: “No.. as for me, Allah has granted me healing; and I disliked to stir up evil upon the people.” So he ordered for it to be buried; and it is in the great Musnad of al-Tabarani - and this is its wording - and the Musnad of Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili; and the Sunan of al-Nasa'i al-Kubra; and the Musnad of Abd ibn Humayd; and Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah; and Ahmad ibn Mani'; from Zayd ibn Arqam - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: “There was a man who would enter upon the Prophet ﷺ and he tied knots for him; and he placed them in the well of a man from the Ansar; and two angels came to visit him; and one of them sat at his head; and the other at his feet; and one of them said: Do you know what has caused his pain? He said: So-and-so who enters upon him; tied knots for him; and threw them into the well of so-and-so from the Ansar; if he had sent a man to him, he would have found the water yellow; so he sent a man and he took the knots and untied them; and he was cured; and the man thereafter would enter upon the Prophet ﷺ and did not mention anything of it to him; nor did he admonish him;” and for the two Shaykhs from Anas - may Allah be pleased with him - that a Jewish woman came to the Prophet ﷺ with a poisoned sheep; and he ate from it; and it was brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he asked her about that; and she said: I intended to kill you; he said: “Allah would not allow you to have power over that” - or he said: “over me” - they said: So do not kill her? He said: “No”; he said: I still recognized her in the uvula of the Prophet ﷺ;” and in a narration: that she was the cause of the Prophet's ﷺ death by the severing of his noble vein from her after years; and in the Sunan of Abu Dawood from a disconnected chain that he killed the Jewish woman; and the first is the correct one; and there will be a mention of this hadith in this surah at ﴿And Allah will protect you from the people﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 67]; so this is the ultimate in forgiveness and kindness; in compliance with the command of Allah - glorified is He.