His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"For those who responded to their lord is the best reward, and those who did not respond to Him, if they had all that is in the earth together with it, they would surely seek to ransom themselves with it. Those will have a bad account, and their abode is Hell, and wretched is the resting place."

"Then is one who knows that what has been revealed to you from your Lord is the truth like one who is blind? Only those of understanding will remember."

"Those who fulfill the covenant of Allah and do not break the contract."

"And those who connect what Allah has commanded to be joined and fear their Lord and fear the bad account."

"Those who responded" [Al-Imran: 172] are the believers whom Allah called upon through the tongue of His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, and they responded to what He called them to in following His religion.

And "the best reward" is Paradise, and this includes victory in this world and other glad tidings that are for the believer, and all that the believers are granted from the blessings of Allah, exalted and majestic is He.

"And those who did not respond" are the disbelievers. And "the bad account" is the scrutiny upon the one being held accountable, and that there does not occur in his account any leniency. This was said by Hushab, Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, Farqad al-Sabakhi, and others. And "the abode" is where a person takes refuge and resides, and "the resting place" is what is spread out and used for sitting and lying down.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Then is one who knows" is an interrogative with the meaning of affirmation, and the meaning is: Is the one whom Allah has guided and has believed in You and knows the truth of Your Prophethood equal to one who has not been guided and has not been granted insight and remains upon his disbelief? So Allah, exalted and majestic is He, likened that to blindness. It has been narrated that this verse was revealed concerning Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, and it was said: concerning Ammar ibn Yasir and Abu Jahl, and after this, it is an example for all of the world. And "Indeed" in this verse is restrictive, meaning: Only those who have understanding and comprehension will remember and believe and be mindful of Allah.

Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, began to describe those whom He facilitated for faith, saying: "Those who fulfill the covenant of Allah." And His saying: "the covenant of Allah" is a term for the general, meaning: all of His covenants, which are His commands and prohibitions that He has instructed His servants with. This includes the obligation to adhere to all duties and to avoid all sins.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And do not break the contract" may refer to the generality of contracts, meaning: if they make a covenant in obedience to Allah, they do not break it. Qatadah said: Allah has warned His servants against breaking the contract in twenty-three verses. It may refer to a specific covenant, which is the one that Allah took from His servants at the time of His wiping over the backs of their father Adam, peace be upon him.

And connecting what Allah has commanded to be joined is apparent in kinship, and it also encompasses all acts of obedience, and the bad account is that it is scrutinized, and there is no leniency or overlooking in it.