And when he brought the general evidence against their wrongdoing, he followed it with specific evidence against him, which is also evidence for evidence. He said: ﴿They swear by Allah﴾ meaning: the Most High King, of whom nothing is greater in status. ﴿What they said﴾ meaning: what has occurred from them in words. He restricted the action to generalize the object, informing that whenever they were rebuked for any statement, they hastened to swear to deny it falsely, because they had reverted to hypocrisy and had become accustomed to the highest form of lying. And they had become trained in bad morals. The result of this is that they were emboldened in seeking pardon and were warned of the punishment of the remaining ones because of their wrongdoing. This is because they command what is wrong and what is suitable for it, following the traces of those before them in indulging in desires, not refraining out of fear of Allah that He would strike them with what He struck others who did similar actions. And there is no hope for them that He would grant them what He has prepared for the believers, being audacious in false oaths, swearing the greatest oaths on any matter they imposed, whether it deserved the oath or not, without fearing Allah that He would expose them as He exposed others who did similar to their actions. Then he indicated the great extent of their wrongdoing and what is included in his saying: ﴿The hypocrites, both men and women, are from one another﴾ [At-Tawbah: 67] - the verse. This is from the major sins of their transgressions. It is possible that this verse serves as a justification for the verse that preceded it, in that they advance towards what they deserve by way of jihad, severity, and fire from swearing falsely to deny everything that is reported about them, belittling Allah and His names. ﴿They have taken their oaths as a shield﴾ [Al-Mujadila: 16]. So it would be a response to one who might say: As for the jihad against the disbelievers, the matter in it is clear, but how do the hypocrites engage in jihad while they rely on the expression of faith and display the actions of the people of Islam? He said: Because they swear. ﴿And indeed﴾ meaning: while they are lying, indeed ﴿they have said the word of disbelief﴾ meaning: that which is the greatest in disbelief, which is the denial of the Prophet ﷺ.

And when this context is for a group that renews the belittlement of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, as indicated by the present tense at all times, it indicates that their acknowledgment of faith is a lie and their actions are mere forms without realities. So he expressed it with Islam and said: ﴿And they disbelieved﴾ meaning: they manifested disbelief ﴿after their Islam﴾ meaning: through what has appeared from their actions and words, and that is the height of depravity. And when the highest attachment of a person to something is that his soul speaks to him about it with what does not reach him, then that would be a form of madness, he said: ﴿And they intended what they could not attain﴾ meaning: from killing the Messenger ﷺ or expelling him from Medina. So they combined between types of disbelief in words, actions, and beliefs. And it is possible that it is a state of the pronoun in "their abode" and the estimation in this is: they will enter Hell swearing by Allah: what they said the word of disbelief, and indeed they said it. So it would be like his saying: ﴿Then their trial was not except that they said, 'By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists'﴾ [Al-An'am: 23].

And when he clarified their conditions, which can only be acted upon by a great matter, he said: "And they did not" meaning: they said and acted while the situation is that they did not "dislike anything of the things that came to them from Allah" except that Allah enriched them, meaning: He who has all the attributes of perfection and is free of need from the worlds, "and His Messenger" meaning: he who is most deserving of the greatness of the addition to Him, glorified and exalted is He. Their harm to this Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and their intention to kill him, while He provided them with what enriched them, is contrary to the previous verse. Thus, the most significant in their blame is the delay of his saying: "from His bounty" for it is from the perspective of: and there is no fault in them.

And when he pointed out that these evils were met with the one who was good to them, he encouraged them by stating that He is the Accepting of repentance upon them, and he warned them that there is no turning back from what He intends of punishment by saying: "So if they repent." And when the situation was worthy of intensifying the listener's eagerness to know their condition in it, he omitted the letter 'n' of existence as a shortening to indicate that, and he said: "It will be" meaning: that "better for them" than their persistence.

And when the souls have a strong inclination towards repentance due to their original nature, and the Qur'an, in its admonition, is a deterrent, accepted in reproach, and has a great impact on hearts and a gentle appeal to minds, He indicated this with the form of emphasis by saying: ﴿And if they turn away﴾ meaning: they burden themselves with turning away from repentance ﴿Allah will punish them﴾ meaning: the One who encompasses all things with power and knowledge regarding His ability and strength ﴿with a painful punishment﴾ meaning: they will have no patience for it ﴿in this world﴾ meaning: with what they are in of fear, disgrace, burdens, and others ﴿and the Hereafter﴾ meaning: with the greater punishment from which they will have no escape ﴿And they have no protector in the earth﴾ meaning: which they do not know other than it due to the lowliness of their aspirations ﴿from a guardian﴾ meaning: who would take care of their affairs and rectify what the punishment has corrupted of them or intercede for them ﴿nor any helper﴾ meaning: who would save them; as for the heavens, they are too insignificant to aspire for anything supportive or otherwise, and their hearts are too hardened to elevate their thoughts to what it contains of wonders and what is in it of armies; and the reason for the revelation of the verse, according to what Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was sitting in the shade of a tree and said: A man will come to you looking at you with the eyes of a devil. When he comes, do not speak to him." They did not wait long before a blue man appeared. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called him and said: "Why do you insult me, you and your companions?" The man went and brought his companions, and they swore by Allah that they did not say it, so Allah revealed the verse;" And Al-Kalbi said: It was revealed concerning Julas ibn Suwaid, and that is because "the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, gave a sermon one day in Tabuk and mentioned the hypocrites, calling them filth and reproaching them. Julas said: If Muhammad is truthful, then we are worse than donkeys. Amir ibn Qais heard him and said: Yes, indeed Muhammad is truthful, and you are worse than donkeys. When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, returned to Medina, Amir ibn Qais came to him and informed him of what Julas had said. Julas said: He lied about me, O Messenger of Allah! The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, commanded them to swear at the pulpit. Julas stood at the pulpit after Asr and swore by Allah, who there is no deity but Him, that he did not say it, and indeed Amir has lied about me. Amir stood and swore by Allah, who there is no deity but Him, that he did say it, and I did not lie about him. Then Amir, may Allah be pleased with him, raised his hands to the heavens and said: O Allah! Send down upon Your Prophet a confirmation of the truthful among us. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the believers said: Amen! Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, descended before they parted with this verse until it reached: ﴿But if they repent, it will be﴾ meaning: repentance ﴿better for them﴾. Julas stood and said: O Messenger of Allah! I hear Allah has offered me repentance. Amir ibn Qais spoke the truth in what he said; I did say it, and I seek forgiveness from Allah and repent to Him. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, accepted that from him, then he repented and his repentance was good.

There is no objection to all of that being a reason for it, as has been mentioned and will come. The most appropriate for it in causality is the first report for expressing disbelief with the definite article 'Al' which indicates completeness. Whoever insults our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, has committed all disbelief. And in the verse, there is evidence for the acceptance of the repentance of the hypocrite who conceals disbelief while manifesting faith, as Abu Hayyan said. He also said: this is the view of Abu Hanifah and ash-Shafi'i. Malik said: it is not accepted. If he comes repenting on his own before he is discovered, his repentance is accepted.