And it is as if he has done well by pardoning them, so he said, responding to his question about it: ﴿And write for us﴾, meaning: during the period of Your reviving for us ﴿in this world﴾, meaning: the present and lowly one ﴿a good deed﴾, meaning: a pleasing and good life ﴿and in﴾ the life ﴿of the Hereafter﴾, meaning: likewise; then he justified that by saying: ﴿Indeed, we have repented﴾, meaning: we have turned back ﴿to You﴾, meaning: from what is not befitting to Your majesty, as You commanded us to inform of what may occur from us by hastening to repentance. He began by mentioning the honor of lordship and then followed with the humility of servitude, and these are the strongest causes of happiness. This is a teaching for them and a warning from what they have fallen into, and an encouragement to submit. And it is as if, since their sin was the open demand for what is not befitting of Him, glorified and exalted is He, by requesting to see Him, he expressed this term or something that indicates its meaning to alert them that their name indicates repentance and returning to the truth, and becoming righteous, gentle, and weak in voice, and submissive in speech, and silent about what is not befitting. And that the Jews, whose name was taken from that, were named so and attributed to it as a sign of hope for them to hasten to repentance.

And when there was in his words, blessings and peace be upon him, [denial of] the destruction of the obedient due to the sin of the disobedient, even though that was merely a means of appealing to him and flattering him, while knowing that it is justice from Him, glorified and exalted is He, and He has the right to do as He wills, as indicated by His saying: ﴿If You had wished, You could have destroyed them before me﴾ [Al-A'raf: 155]. He, glorified and exalted is He, began to inform about the answer to his words in a way that alerts the masses to His absolute authority with His saying: ﴿My punishment﴾, meaning: My retribution that removes every sweetness from whoever it befalls ﴿I inflict it upon﴾, meaning: in this world and the Hereafter ﴿whom I will﴾, meaning: whether he has sinned or not ﴿and My mercy﴾, meaning: My grace and honor.

And when creation is from mercy, it is better than non-existence, for it is an honor in general. He said: ﴿His mercy encompasses all things﴾, meaning: this is its nature and description in itself, even if it reaches in evils what it may reach. This is the meaning of the hadith of Abu Huraira in the authentic narration: "Indeed, My mercy has preceded - and in another narration: has overcome - My anger." Whether we say that precedence means overcoming, or we say that it is in its own right, the first is because the attachment of mercy is greater. For everything that anger is attached to, mercy is attached to it through creation and the granting of provision upon it, and not the reverse, like the mute animals, inanimate objects, and the people of happiness from the believers, angels, houris, and others from the armies of Allah that cannot be counted. And when He made it known that His mercy is vast and His power is comprehensive, and that this expands hope, He caused from that His saying, mentioning the condition for the completion of that mercy, as a warning to those who are negligent in obtaining that condition: ﴿So I will write it﴾, meaning: I specify it to remain with a promise that cannot be broken due to my ability to fulfill what I want, its matter is determined by writing ﴿for those who fear Allah﴾, meaning: this description exists for them, which leads to all good, and it does not prevent its vastness that I may deny its continuity after creation from others. For if all were to enter into it always, it would not be constricted by them. It is in itself vast, but I do what I will.

(p-106) And when He mentioned their looking at the Creator by refraining from what He has forbidden and complying with what He has commanded, He followed it with looking at the creatures, saying: ﴿and they give zakah﴾, and perhaps He specified it because its obligation was at this time as previously mentioned in Al-Baqarah, and because it is a trust between the creation and the Creator, just as the attributes of the Prophet ﷺ that He wrote for them and conditioned the acceptance of their deeds upon following him likewise. Then He generalized by mentioning the fruit of piety, saying, bringing forth for whoever possesses those two descriptions in general, not in a manner of generality: ﴿and those who believe in Our signs﴾, meaning: all of them ﴿believe﴾, meaning: they affirm with their hearts, acknowledge with their tongues, and act in confirmation of that with their limbs, so they do not disbelieve in some and believe in some.