And when He negated equality from them without explicitly stating the people of preference, the longing for an explicit statement intensified. This would be more firmly established in the soul and more profound in the heart. It was as if it were said: Who is the preferred? He said: ﴿Those who have believed﴾ meaning: they have performed this action, which is the belief of the addressed, that they do not deny him regarding anything he informs them about Allah. He restricted the action, which is originally transitive, to imply that there is no belief other than this. If there exists another, it is nothing in relation to it. Likewise, every action that is restricted is in this manner to indicate that it is for its great benefit, and there is no action of its kind other than it. ﴿And they emigrated and struggled﴾.

And when the one being spoken of previously was the struggler in the path of Allah, the situation necessitated his precedence over the means, unlike what was in the end of Al-Anfal. For the situation there necessitated the precedence of wealth and self due to what had preceded of its necessity in another verse, as has been previously explained. Also, at this time, wealth had increased, and the places of struggle had become distant. Thus, the concern was appropriate for the path; therefore, he preceded ﴿in the path of Allah﴾ meaning: being sincere to Him; for He is the King who has no equal. Then he followed it with his saying: ﴿With their wealth and their selves﴾, explicitly mentioning the self as an encouragement to engage in it. ﴿A greater degree﴾ meaning: in terms of the elevation of degree, which is the virtue that brings one closer to Allah.

And when the consideration is only for what is with Him, glorified and exalted is He, not for what is with the people, He, the Exalted, said: ﴿With Allah﴾ meaning: the greatest King of those who provide water and what is with it, without a belief indicated by its evidences. And He did not mention the one preferred over it to indicate that their virtue is absolute, so the one preferred over it is included among those indicated. And He repeated the name of the greatest for additional encouragement due to the gravity of the situation and the difficulty of the aim. And this indicates that those actions are noble in themselves. Whoever engages in them is at a great degree compared to one who does not engage in them. And whoever builds them on the foundation is greater. Then He clarified what concerns the people of His party by saying: ﴿And those﴾ meaning: the exalted ones, ﴿they are﴾ meaning: specifically, not you, O those who boast alongside polytheism, ﴿the successful﴾ meaning: with the lasting good in both abodes, unlike those other than them, even if they perform good deeds as they have performed; for they have elevated from servitude to closeness.