And when the drawing near may not be known by the observer what its cause is, he said secretly to them: ﴿This﴾ meaning: the drawing near and what you see of everything that pleases you ﴿What﴾ meaning: the matter that ﴿You are promised﴾ meaning: the promise has occurred for you regarding it in this world. He expressed it in the present tense as a narration of the past state. He expressed the drawing near in the past tense to affirm its matter and to depict its presence now, so that the present tense of the promise is in the most appropriate places. He made the matter ambiguous; because it is more enticing, and the specification after the ambiguity is more delightful. Therefore, he said, clarifying for the righteous, returning to the connection of what occurred between it and the substituted from the parenthetical statement as a response to one who might have said: To whom is this promise? So Allah, the Exalted, said: ﴿For every repentant﴾ meaning: one who returns to righteousness with the piety of the heart if there occurs in his outward appearance a deviation. Thus, he pointed out that it is from His grace that He did not stipulate in the correctness of His description of piety the continuity of righteousness. ﴿Preserver﴾ meaning: one who is diligent in preserving the limits and all covenants with the continuity of righteousness and returning after a slip. Then he substituted from 'every' [to complete] the clarification of the righteous his saying: