His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿O Children of Israel, remember My favor which I have bestowed upon you and fulfill My covenant; I will fulfill your covenant, and fear Me.﴾ ﴿And believe in what I have sent down, confirming that which is with you, and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And do not exchange My verses for a small price, and fear Me.﴾

"O" is a particle of address that implies a meaning of alerting. Al-Khalil said: The verb implied in the address is an unexpressed action, as if he is saying: I want or I call. Abu Ali al-Farisi said: The implied action is a particle of address that is tied to the meaning of the unexpressed action, thus it is strong and acts. This is indicated by the fact that there is no particle of meaning that can stand alone with names other than the particle of address. And "Children" is an addressed noun that is added, and "Israel" is: Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, peace be upon them. It is a foreign name, and it is said: Israel, and it is also said: Isra'il, and Tamim says: Isra'in. And "Isra" in Hebrew means servant, and "El" is the name of Allah, the Most High, so its meaning is: servant of Allah. Al-Mahdawi narrated that "Isra" is derived from the intensity in captivity, as if he is the one whom Allah tightened his captivity and strengthened his creation. It has been narrated from Nafi, al-Hasan, al-Zuhri, and Ibn Abi Ishaq, to omit the hamzah in "Israel."

And the mention in the speech of the Arabs is in various forms, and this is one of them, the mention of the heart, which is the opposite of forgetfulness. And the favor here is a noun of genus, so it is singular in meaning of the plural. The "y" in "My favor" has moved because it encountered the definite article. It is permissible to pronounce it with a sukoon, and if it is pronounced with a sukoon, it is omitted for the sake of meeting. (p-194) And pronouncing it with a fathah is better for the increase of a letter in the Book of Allah, the Most High. Some scholars specified the favor in this verse, so al-Tabari said: The sending of the messengers from them, and the sending down of manna and quails, and their rescue from the torment of the people of Pharaoh, and the splitting of the stone. Others said: The favor here is that they were granted the knowledge of the Torah and made its people and bearers. These are statements in the context of examples, and the generality in the wording is the best. Al-Makki narrated that the addressed ones from the Children of Israel in this speech are the believers in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, because the disbeliever has no favor from Allah upon him.

Ibn Abbas and the majority of scholars said: The address is to all the Children of Israel during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, both the believers and the disbelievers.

And the pronoun in "upon you" refers to your forefathers, as the Arabs say: Did we not defeat you on such a day, for an event that occurred between the forefathers and ancestors? And whoever says that only the believers in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, were addressed, the pronoun in "upon you" is correct, and all that follows in the commands is in the context of continuity.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And fulfill My covenant; I will fulfill your covenant.﴾ This is a command and its response. Al-Khalil said: The firmness of the response in the command is from the meaning of the condition, and fulfilling the covenant is the commitment to what it entails of action. Al-Zuhri read: "I will fulfill" with a fathah on the waw and a shaddah on the fa for the purpose of emphasis.

And the interpreters have differed regarding this covenant with them. The majority said: That is general in all His commands, prohibitions, and recommendations. This includes the mention of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, in the Torah. It was said: The covenant is His saying, the Most High: "Take what We have given you with strength" [Al-Baqarah: 63]. The verse: And Ibn Jurayj said: The covenant is His saying, the Most High: "And indeed Allah took the covenant from the Children of Israel" [Al-Ma'idah: 12]. The covenant with them is that He would admit them into Paradise, and their fulfillment of Allah's covenant is a sign of Allah's fulfillment of His covenant with them, which has no cause, because the cause does not precede the effect.

And His saying: "And fear Me alone"; the word "Iya" is the name, and the "ya" is a pronoun like the "ka" of the addressee. It was said: "Iya" as a whole is the name, and it is in the accusative case due to an implied delayed verb, the estimation of which is: "And fear Me, so fear Me." It was not permissible to estimate it in advance because if the verb precedes, it is not appropriate for it to be connected except by a light pronoun, so it would come: "So fear Me."

And fear includes the meaning of threatening. The "ya" dropped after the "nun" because it is the beginning of a verse. Ibn Abi Ishaq read it with the "ya."

And "believe" means: affirm, and "Musaddiqan" is in the accusative case as an adjective for the pronoun in "I have sent down." It was said: from "what," and the doer in it is "believe." And what I have sent down is a metaphor for the Qur'an, and "for what is with you" means from the Torah.

And His saying: "And do not be the first to disbelieve in it"; this is from the understood meaning of the address, which the mentioned and the unmentioned have the same ruling. The first, second, and others are included in the prohibition, but beware of hastening to disbelief in it, as the first is a burden from the action of the one who is followed. "First" is in the accusative case as the subject of "was."

Sibawayh said: The first "af'al" has no action due to the defect of its letter and its root. Others than Sibawayh said: It is from "awal" if it escapes, the hamzah is softened, and a waw is substituted and it is assimilated. It was said: It is from "ala," so it is "a'awal" and it came in the form of "af'al," and it was facilitated and substituted and assimilated.

And he singularized "disbeliever" which is in the form of the plural; because "af'al" when added to a noun that is derived from a verb, it is permissible to singularize that noun, and what is meant by it is the group. The poet said:

And when they eat, they are the worst of eaters, and when they are hungry, they are the worst of the hungry.

And Sibawayh sees that it is an indefinite term abbreviated from a definite one, as if he said: "And do not be the first disbeliever in it." It was said: Its meaning is "And do not be the first group of disbelievers."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And there were disbelievers from Quraysh who disbelieved before them, so its meaning is: from the People of the Book, as they are looked to in such matters, because they are a presumed proof of knowledge.

And there is a difference regarding the pronoun in "in it"; to whom does it return? It was said: to Muhammad, peace be upon him, and it was said: to the Torah, as it includes His saying: "for what is with you." According to this saying, "the first disbeliever in it" comes straightforwardly according to its apparent meaning in the first instance. It was said: The pronoun in "in it" returns to the Qur'an, as it is included in His saying: "by what I have sent down."

And the interpreters differed regarding the price that they were prohibited from purchasing with the signs. A group said: The scholars used to know their religion for a fee, so they were prohibited from that. In their books: 'Teach for free as you were taught for free, meaning without any fee.' And a group said: The scholars had a meal that they would eat for knowledge like a salary, so they were prohibited from that. And a group said: The scholars took bribes for altering the story of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, in the Torah. In this, Allah, the Most High, said: ﴿And do not exchange My signs for a small price﴾. And a group said: The meaning of the verse is: And do not exchange My commands and prohibitions and My signs for a small price, meaning the worldly life and its duration, and the living that is insignificant and has no value. And a similar saying has preceded: ﴿And fear Me alone﴾. And between 'fear Me' and 'be in awe of Me' there is a difference, as the awe is accompanied by a severe warning.