And when he indicated that he is their protector, he revived them with a spirit from Him, clarifying to them what is good for them and that there is no protector for them other than Him. He established the proof for that by His saying: ﴿Indeed, Allah has accepted the repentance﴾, meaning the One who has majesty and honor ﴿of the Prophet﴾, meaning that he continuously has from Allah great news that guides him to what indicates the strengthening of his life by raising his ranks. There is no station that he is elevated to except that he sees it as a means for his further elevation and closeness to the station that was below it. Thus, he is in every moment in ascension from complete to more complete to what has no end.

And when the Most High informed of the exalted rank of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, by elevating him in the ranks of perfection and the most complete to an endless extent, in a way that is the utmost encouragement for every believer to hasten to repentance, He confirmed that with His saying: "And the emigrants and the helpers," by erasing their missteps and raising their ranks. "Those who followed him" means the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, "in the hour of hardship," meaning the times of the hardship of Tabuk. They were in hardship of time due to drought and severe distress and intense heat, and hardship of support, "ten would ride on one camel." And hardship of provisions, "They took dates [the dried ones] and barley [the crushed ones] and foul fat." The severity reached them to the point that two would share a date, and perhaps the group would suck it to drink water with it. And in hardship of water until they slaughtered the camels and extracted their milk. And it was called an hour to lessen the times of distress and encourage facing adversities; for indeed its duration is short and its reward is great and significant. Their state in following him in this expedition was more complete than their state before it. And He, glorified and exalted is He, pointed to their differences in steadfastness on high ranks, which they elevated through repentance to a higher one. And in accepting the whispers that the repentance distanced them from accepting it, with His saying: "After what nearly caused them to deviate," meaning it approached very closely, "to stray," meaning to deviate from their places that necessitate their righteousness. And He indicated with "from" to the closeness between the plotting of deviation and the remedy through repentance. And when the situation was for earthquakes, the expression suited what leads to upheaval and division, so He said: "The hearts of a group," meaning: they are in a position where division can occur from them due to the earthquakes that sway them. "From them," meaning from the great afflictions that befell them, so they sway from the truth like Abu Khaythama. And whoever loved comfort feared travel in that intense heat to the sons of the yellow kings, the mighty hunters, who filled the earth in abundance, and their number was like that of the pebbles, and their strength was like that of the mountains. Then Allah decreed for him to join the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and He returned them all to what they were upon before approaching deviation from distancing themselves. And when they became like those who had not approached deviation, He elevated them to another rank, expressing its greatness with a tool of relaxation, saying: "Then He turned to them," meaning [all of them, repeating for elevation, or to those who nearly deviated] with steadfastness on distancing from slips and with elevation in high ranks until death. And Abu Hayyan transmitted from Al-Hasan that their deviation was their concern with turning away due to what they encountered from hardship. He said: And it was said: Their bad opinion was due to what they saw of the severity of the hardship and the lack of provisions and the distance of the journey and the strength of the intended enemy - it has ended.

It is permissible that he expressed by "thamma" their arrival at a state from which stability is far, let alone from the places of slips. So he established them until they became like iron without any apparent reason from "an army or otherwise." Thus, it was established that he is the owner of the kingdom, capable of doing whatever he wants, and that there is no protector for them besides Him. Then he explained his kindness towards them by saying: "Indeed, He is compassionate and merciful towards them." Compassion is the intensity of mercy. He presented the most eloquent, and it can be said about it what has been said about "the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful." The meaning is that He has mercy on them with the highest mercy by bestowing great blessings and repelling great calamities. He also has mercy on them by bestowing minor blessings and repelling minor calamities. It has been said that compassion is the removal of harm, and mercy is the delivery of benefit. The root of "ra'afa" revolves around the breadth of what has been indicated in Surah Al-Isra regarding the intensity of connection. Compassion, as Al-Harali said in Al-Baqarah, is the inclination of the one who has a favor and connection towards the one who finds it with him. It is the mercy of the one who is connected to the merciful, while mercy encompasses those who have no connection to the merciful. Thus, compassion would then be for the steadfast, and mercy for those who are close to deviation. The steadfast becomes twice merciful; because he is looked at with both attributes. What has been previously mentioned in the two parties of Al-Baqarah is beneficial here.