And when He reminded them of what they were upon before the Hijrah of weakness, and He bestowed upon them what He honored them with, and He concluded this with a warning against wealth and children that lead to ruin, and by magnifying what is with Him that carries hope, He followed it with the command of piety that forbids desires by indicating the fear of its consequences, indicating that it is necessary to combine both. And He, glorified and exalted is He, clarified that safety from other than it results in the first, and salvation from His punishment in the latter, so He said, 'O you who have believed,' repeating this description as a reminder of what is required by claiming it: 'If you fear Allah' by reconciling between yourselves, and that encompasses all matters of religion. 'He will make for you a criterion,' meaning: victory; for the root of 'farqa' returns to separation, so when something is connected, every part of it is compelled to remain with its companion. But when strength of separation is granted to it, it is capable of connection and disconnection. Its reality is: He will make for you honor by which you will separate from whom you want whenever you want, and connect with whom you want whenever you want, due to the honor of resistance that you have, and you will differentiate between whom you want whenever you want due to the strength of defense that you have. That is: He will make for you what will give you the power of action in what you desire of separation and connection, which is the duty of the lords referred to in their words during disputes, not as you were in Makkah, where you did not feel secure in the place nor could you speak—let alone argue—except with great apprehension. And even so, your words did not have an effect that could be called distinguishing, and the one who distinguishes among people is the one who separates between matters and resolves them. And by this, Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was named 'Al-Farooq' because he manifested Islam in Makkah with a manifestation in which there was honor and strength, making faith distinct from disbelief without fearing it. And 'farqa'—with a kasra—means to fear, returning to what the root revolves around, for what is meant by it is: his concerns became separated from the vastness of fear. And 'farq' which is the large measure is as if it is the separator between the rich and the poor. Al-Harawi said: it is twelve mudd. And 'afraqa' from its ailment—when he recovered—means: he had a state that separated between his health and the illness he had. And from it is 'farqah' which is dates and hulbah cooked for the postpartum women. And 'qarif' the thing—by advancing the qaf—means: I peeled it, and 'qarf' means: mixing, as if it is from removal; for they said: 'fa'ala' enters into every door, and from it: 'qarafa' the thing and 'iqtarafa': he acquired it, and 'iqtaraf' means: gathering, and it can refer to the container because 'qarf' is the container; for it separates its contents from others. And so-and-so is 'qirfati'—that is: my place of assumption of him as if he became a container for that. And a horse is 'muqrif'—that is: clear in its distinction, meaning: it is a hybrid because it is clearly distinguished from the Arab. And 'qurifa' with evil means: he was accused with it, meaning: he was made a container for it or his concerns were separated. And 'qafru'—by advancing the qaf—means: the empty place due to its separation from people. And 'aqfara' the place means: it became empty, and 'aqfara' the man from his family means: he became alone from them. And 'qafara' the food means: it became devoid of sauce, and a man is 'qafru' the head means: he has no hair due to its separation from it, and 'qafru' the body means: there is no flesh on it, and 'qifaar' means: food without sauce. And 'iqtafar' the trace means: I followed it to separate it from others. And 'fiqrah'—by advancing the fa—and 'faqar' means: what is stacked from the bones of the spine from the shoulder to the ankle to distinguish each one from the other. And 'faqartu' the land means: I dug it, so every one became separate from the other. And 'faqirah' means: the calamity that breaks the vertebra. And from it is 'faqr' and 'iftiqar' due to need. And 'afqarani' his mount means: he lent me its back. And 'ramaytuhu min adna fiqrah' means: from the lowest landmark because the landmarks are distinct from one another. And 'taqaffur' in the leg of the animal is whiteness due to its separation from the rest of its color. And 'rafiqtu bil-amr' means: I was gentle with it, and that cannot be except by separating it from what harms it. And from it is 'rafiq' for the companion from companionship, and 'mirfaq' is from that due to what is obtained by it from gentleness.

And when man is a place of deficiency, he is not free from a slip or a mistake. He refers to this by His saying: ﴿And He will expiate for you your sins﴾, meaning: He will conceal them as long as you are upon piety. ﴿And He will forgive you﴾, meaning: He will erase what was from you that is not righteous, in essence and effect. In this is a reminder to them that the leaders are in great danger because they are commanded to be equal among the people. The soul is inclined to favor those who are compatible with it over those who are opposed to it. This indicates that ruling with justice is among the highest ranks, which only a rare individual can attain. And His saying: ﴿And Allah﴾, meaning: the One who encompasses all attributes of perfection, ﴿is the Possessor of great favor﴾, indicates an increase in expiation and forgiveness from His bounty. It informs that nothing is impossible for Him. It is possible for Him to obligate each of them to the path of justice, even if it is from breaking the norm in the highest position. In this verse is the greatest relevance to the story of Abu Lubabah, may Allah be pleased with him, because what drove him to what he did to himself from the punishment was piety. His sin was expiated and he was forgiven. This was followed by encouragement for others to hasten to repentance upon committing a mistake. He concluded this verse with a favor over what was of deficiency, indicating His grace, glorified and exalted is He, for what He has bestowed upon the people of Islam from high status, the spread of awe, and the grandeur of the matter in the hearts of the opponents, as is observed. He concluded the verse warning against flattery with severe punishment, indicating what He has clothed them with from the mentioned conditions in the following verse of their weakness, their being overpowered, and their fear of being seized by those who oppose them. However, He, the Exalted, had mercy on them by making some of them among those included by the name of Islam for some, not for others. Thus, He made them factions and caused some of them to taste the hardship of others. Each one fears the other, and the righteous one, due to the multitude of opponents, remains fearful of calamities and disasters, vigilant, and keeps a distance, although they do not lack supporters whom Allah supports them with. The people of oppression continue to differ among themselves, and both factions return to them and rely on them. Whoever supports him is the supported one. Their words in times of distress are the criterion. They have in the hearts of the oppressors a sense of awe, even if their situation has descended more than what the oppressors have in their hearts of awe, so that everyone is certain that they are upon the truth which Allah supports, and that the people of evil are upon falsehood which Allah forsakes. Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said regarding the leaders on earth: By Allah! Indeed, for disobedience in their hearts is humiliation, even if the flesh is plump on them. Fear has divided between them into two halves, and there is a great difference between the two factions. Their fear increases them in reward from Allah and makes it a provision for them, while the fear of the people of falsehood increases them in sin and makes it a burden for their religion. This is the reality of the situation in describing the people of truth and falsehood.