And when it became known from this that it is permissible to take from the captives for ransom, and that what is taken from them is greatly burdensome for them, he approached them, seeking to encourage them towards Islam. So he turned to his Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, commanding him to address them, indicating that they are not worthy of being addressed by Him, glorified and exalted is He, due to how far they have distanced themselves from Him by their choice to be among the ranks of enemies rather than among the ranks of the allies. He said, expressing the description looking towards receiving knowledge, encouraging them to receive from him, blessings and peace be upon him: "O Prophet," meaning: the one to whom I convey every noble meaning, who manifests his religion and purifies his nation while raising his status and completing his lights. "Say to those in your hands," meaning: in the hands of your companions and the people of your religion, for the lesson is in the general wording, not in the specific cause. "From the captives," encouraging them in what is with Allah. "If Allah knows in your hearts goodness," meaning: something of His piety that leads to the faith which is the head of all good and to every good. "He will give you better than what has been taken from you," meaning: from what He will open for you of the spoils in this world and will store for you of the reward in the Hereafter. "And He will forgive you," meaning: what has passed of your sins. "And Allah," meaning: the One in whose hand is everything, "is Forgiving and Merciful," meaning: it is His nature. The meaning, based on what is known from the story of Al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, is that He, glorified and exalted is He, deals with you and those like you in a manner different from what His soldiers take from you with generosity. As for the fact that He rules to drop the ransom from you and commands them to leave it and release you freely due to what He knows in your hearts of goodness and faith that you were concealing, do not be greedy for it; for that opens the door to false claims that prevent the spoils and weaken the religion. Al-Hafiz Abu Umar Ibn Abd al-Barr said in his biography: Ibn Abbas and Sa'id Ibn al-Musayyib said: "Al-Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, was among the captives, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: Ransom yourself and your two nephews, Aqil and Nawfal, and I have released you; for you are a man of wealth. He said: O Messenger of Allah! I was a Muslim, but the people forced me. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: Allah knows best about your Islam. If what you say is true, then Allah will reward you for it, but as for the outward appearance of your matter, it was against us. He said: I have no wealth. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: And where is the wealth that you placed with Umm al-Fadl when you left and no one was with you? Then you said: If I am struck in this journey, then give Al-Fadl such and Abdullah such! He said: By the One who sent you with the truth! No one knows about this except me and her. So he ransomed himself for a hundred uqiyyas, and each one for forty uqiyyas, and he said: You left me asking the people, and he embraced Islam and commanded Aqil to embrace Islam, and none of the captives except for them embraced Islam.\