And when what they attained from their Lord towards them - of what He described them with [of hardship and what accompanies it] - is piety and truthfulness in faith, just as what a person finds in himself of the death at that moment and being thrown into the fire is more beloved to him than uttering the clear words of faith with the testimony of the chosen one, blessings and peace be upon him. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, encouraged truthfulness, saying: "O you who have believed" meaning those who claim that, "Fear Allah" meaning fear the might of the One who has complete greatness, confirming your claims, so do not do except what pleases Him. "And be" meaning be in a state of truthfulness with all of your nature and disposition, "with the truthful" meaning in every matter that is required of them. And perhaps He presented the matter in a general manner to include every believer, so whoever is deficient is commanded to catch up, and whoever is ahead is urged to preserve the status of being ahead. And perhaps He expressed it with "with" to include the lowest ranks, which is being in a state of humility. Al-Bukhari narrated the repentance of Ka'b, one of these three, may Allah be pleased with them, in several places from his Sahih, among them the explanation. And likewise, it was narrated by others from Ka'b himself, may Allah be pleased with him: "He did not miss a single battle that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, fought except for two battles: the battle of hardship - meaning this one - and the battle of Badr. And his absence from Badr was only because the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, did not call the people to it nor urge them to it; for he did not set out at first except for the sake of the caravan. He said: So I gathered the charity of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. He rarely set out on a journey except in the morning, and he would begin with the mosque and pray two units. And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, prohibited me from speaking and the speaking of my two companions - meaning Murarah ibn al-Rabi' al-Amri and Hilal ibn Umayyah al-Waqifi - and he did not prohibit anyone from the rest of the absentees except us. So the people avoided our speech, and I remained in that state until the matter became prolonged for me. And there was nothing more important to me than to die and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, not to pray over me, or for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to die and I be among the people in that state, not to be spoken to by any of them nor to have them pray over me. Then Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, revealed our repentance to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when the last third of the night remained and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was with Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her. And Umm Salamah was good in my affair, concerned with my matter. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "O Umm Salamah! Announce repentance for Ka'b." She said: "Should I not send to him to give him the good news?" He said: "Then the people will crush you and prevent you from sleeping the entire night." Until when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, prayed the Fajr prayer, he announced Allah's repentance upon us. And when he was pleased, his face would shine until it was as if it were a piece of the moon. And we - those three who were left behind - were left out of the matter that was accepted from those who excused themselves when Allah revealed repentance for us. So when those who lied against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from the absentees were mentioned and excused themselves with falsehood, they were mentioned with the worst of what anyone has been mentioned with. Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, said: "They will excuse themselves to you when you return to them" [At-Tawbah: 94].