And when he declared repentance for those who approached deviation and mixed with them the people of steadfastness, it indicates that everyone is in need of the Great Rich One. And to have their association with the people of high status, and to place them in their vicinity is an honor for them and a comfort so that their denial does not intensify. He followed the repentance for those who fell into deviation by saying, without explicitly stating the deviation, as a teaching for manners and a healing for the broken hearts: "And upon" meaning: and indeed Allah has accepted the repentance of "the three who".

And when the one who removes hearts is the absolute cause of abandonment, his saying: "They were left behind" means that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, left them behind through abandonment and forbade the people from speaking to them. He delayed the ruling concerning them until the command of Allah came in clarifying their matter, and their abandonment continued until when it became narrow for them. He indicated the gravity of the matter with the tool of elevation by saying: "The earth became constricted upon them" meaning all of it, "despite its vastness" meaning with the intensity of its expanse, meaning: it became narrow for them, both its spaciousness and its vastness.

And when this may be intended literally, and the narrowness of the place does not necessarily entail the narrowness of the chest. He followed it with an indication that the intended meaning is metaphorical by saying: "And their souls became constricted" due to the distressing worry and the troubling grief, meaning: from the severity of what they faced from abandonment, even in speech, even in returning greetings. And when that does not necessitate repentance except with vigilance, he followed that - for the purpose of their being left behind - with his saying: "And they thought" meaning: they were certain. And perhaps he expressed it with thought to indicate that due to the intensity of their confusion, their hearts did not settle on a state, so their certainty, due to the intensity of the thoughts, was as if it were thought. Or it may be said - and this is good - that the expression with it regarding the certainty of the sincere indicates that the highest certainty in monotheism does not reach the reality of what it is, that no one can estimate Allah's true worth, as the most truthful of creation, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I cannot enumerate Your praise; You are as You have praised Yourself." And this is among the rare gems, so he used it in such examples. "That there is no refuge" meaning escape and sanctuary "from Allah" meaning the One who has complete encompassing knowledge "except to Him" meaning by what pleases Him, and it is a parable for their bewilderment in their matter. And the response of "if" is omitted, indicated by the beginning of the speech, its estimation being: He caught them with repentance and returned them to what they were upon before committing the sin.

And when what they did of staying away from the command of the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, was great due to mere opposition, then they left the support, then they turned away from him, blessings and peace be upon him, then with matters of great and severe ugliness, it was far from them to increase in the rank of repentance. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, made it known that He elevated them in the ranks of perfection by making that a means for their purification from all impurities and their cleansing from all that is undesirable, necessitating further closeness by ascending in the heights of knowledge - as indicated by his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, to Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him: 'Rejoice with the best day that has passed over you since your mother gave birth to you.' Then, glorified and exalted is He, followed that with the informing of it by His saying - indicating what comes after it: 'But for the grace of Allah' - with the tool of distancing: 'Then He turned to them' meaning He returned them after repentance to a station of the sound nature, which is the best of forms, elevated in its superiority over what is below it. Repentance: 'So that they may repent' meaning: so that they may return to what the original nature necessitates of steadfastness on what they were upon of goodness in religion and embodying the morals of the predecessors. And perhaps He expressed it with the thought in the place of knowledge, indicating that mere thought of fear from His majesty is enough for cutting off to Him, as there is no cause to Him except from Him, for He encompasses all things and nothing can overwhelm Him. And it is possible that the expression 'Then' indicates the greatness of what they experienced from terrors and what they ascended to from ranks of fear, and a favor upon them with repentance from the great sins they committed. And they were specifically distinguished from their companions by being delayed for the command of Allah due to the elevation of their rank because of what they have of precedence and firm footing in Islam. Thus, a slight opposition from them is greater than that of many others because they are the leaders of guidance and the lamps of darkness. And from this, the saying: 'The good deeds of the righteous are the sins of the close ones.' Then He justified the repentance with a matter that encompasses others, encouragingly saying, expressing with what indicates along with their highest rank to His descending from the rank of those before them: 'Indeed, Allah' meaning the One who has all perfection 'He is' meaning alone 'the Accepting of Repentance' meaning the One who is profound in accepting repentance from whoever repents, even if his crime is great and his repentance is repeated due to the repetition of his sins. 'The Most Merciful' meaning the One who honors whom He wills from His servants by safeguarding him upon what He approves so that he does not deviate, and He exaggerates in bestowing favors upon him.