His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, Allah will admit those who have believed and done righteous deeds to gardens beneath which rivers flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their garments therein will be silk." "And they are guided to the good word, and they are guided to the path of the Praiseworthy." "Indeed, those who disbelieve and hinder [others] from the way of Allah and from the Sacred Mosque, which We have made for people, equal are the resident therein and the visitor. And whoever intends therein [to commit] deviation by wrongdoing - We will make him taste of a painful punishment."

This verse is a counterpart to His saying, the Most High: "So those who disbelieved will have garments cut out for them" [Al-Hajj: 19]. The majority read: "they will be adorned" with a fatḥah on the yā and the lām, and it is softened. It is said: a man has become adorned, and a woman has become adorned when she has become one possessing adornment. It is said that it is from their saying: so-and-so has not become adorned with anything. And "from" in His saying, the Most High: "from bracelets" is for indicating the type; and it is possible that it is for partitive. And "bracelets" is the plural of "sawar" and "iswar" with the hamzah being broken. It is said: "bracelets" is the plural of "aswirah," and "aswirah" is the plural of "sawar." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "from bracelets of gold."

And "pearls": is the jewel, and it is said: its small ones, and it is said: its large ones, and the most famous is that it is a name for the jewel. Nafi' and Asim - in the narration of Abu Bakr - read: "and pearls" with a fatḥah, conjunction to the place of "bracelets"; because the estimation is: they will be adorned therein with bracelets, and this is the reading of Al-Hasan, Al-Jahdari, Sallam, Ya'qub, Al-A'raj, Abu Ja'far, 'Isa, Ibn 'Umar, and Abu Al-Fath carried his fatḥah on an implied verb. The rest of the seven read: "and pearls" with a kasrah, conjunction either to the word "bracelets," and "pearls" would be in addition to the bracelets, or to "gold" because the bracelets can also be of gold and pearls that have been combined together. This reading was narrated from Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan, Talhah, Ibn Wathab, Al-A'mash, and the people of Mecca. It has been established in "the Imam" that there is an alif after the waw, as stated by Al-Jahdari, and Al-Asma'i said: there is no alif in it. Yahya narrated from Abu Bakr, (p-231) from Asim with the hamzah of the second waw without the first, and Al-Mu'alla ibn Mansur narrated from Abu Bakr, from Asim contrary to that. Abu Ali said: the hamzah of both and their softening and the hamzah of one of them without the other is all permissible. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "for pearls" with a kasrah on both lams.

And Allah, the Most High, informed about them with silk garments because it is one of the most complete states of the Hereafter. It has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "Whoever wears silk in this world will not wear it in the Hereafter." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: the matters of the Hereafter do not resemble the matters of this world except in names only, but as for the attributes, they are distinct.

'And the good of speech': There is no deity except Allah and what has occurred with it from the mention of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and His glorification and sanctification, and the other words of the people of Paradise from conversation and good talk. For in it, there is no idle talk. 'The path of the Praiseworthy' is the way of Allah, exalted is He, to which He has called His servants. It is possible that by 'the Praiseworthy' He means the path itself, so He added to it in the same manner as His saying, exalted is He: 'And the abode of the Hereafter.'

His saying, exalted is He: 'Indeed, those who disbelieve and hinder' the verse. His saying: 'and hinder' is to be understood as: they are hindering. With this, the future is rightly connected to the past. A group said: the 'and' is extra, and 'they hinder' is the news of 'Indeed.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this corrupts the intended meaning. Rather, the news is omitted and implied at His saying: 'and the ones who hinder,' its implication being: they have lost or perished. And 'they hinder' has come in the future tense as they are doing it continuously, just as His saying, exalted is He: 'Those who have believed and whose hearts find rest' [Ar-Ra'd: 28] and similar to it.

And this verse was revealed in the year of Hudaybiyyah when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was hindered from the Sacred Mosque. This is because there was no known hindrance to them before that gathering, except if it is meant to hinder individuals from among the people, which indeed occurred at the beginning of the mission. A group said: 'the Sacred Mosque' meant all of Mecca.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is correct, but he intended by the mention the important purpose of that.

And the majority of the people read: 'equal' in the nominative, and it is at the beginning, and 'the one who resides' is its news. It is said: the news is 'equal' and it is advanced. This is the saying of Abu Ali. The meaning is: which We have made for the people as a qiblah or a place of worship. Hafs read from Asim: 'equal' in the accusative, which is the reading of Al-A'mash. This allows for two interpretations: one is that it is a second object for 'made' and 'the one who resides' is raised with it because it is a source in the meaning of being equal, which is treated as the action of the doer. The second interpretation is that it is an adverbial phrase from the pronoun in 'We made it.' A group read: 'equal' in the accusative and 'the one who resides' in the genitive, in conjunction with 'the people.' And 'the one who resides' is the one who remains in the land, and 'the one who comes' is the one arriving from elsewhere. Ibn Kathir read in both connection and pause: 'the one who comes' with a 'ya.' Abu Amr paused without a 'ya' and connected with a 'ya.' Nafi' read: 'the one who comes' without a 'ya' in both connection and pause in the narration of Al-Musayyabi, and Abu Bakr and Ismail ibn Abi Uways. Warsh narrated the connection with a 'ya.' Asim, Ibn Amir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read without a 'ya' in both connection and pause, and it is in 'the Imam' without a 'ya.'

The people unanimously agreed on equality in the Sacred Mosque, but they differed in Mecca. Umar ibn al-Khattab, Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and a group with them went to the view that the matter is the same in the houses of Mecca. The one who arrives should settle wherever he finds, and it is upon the Lord of the house to provide him shelter, whether He wants to or not. This was also said by Sufyan al-Thawri and others. Likewise, this was the case in the early period. Ibn Sabit said: Their houses did not have doors until theft became widespread, so a man made a door, and Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, objected to him saying: 'Are you closing a door in the face of the pilgrims of the House of Allah?' The man replied: 'I only intended to protect their belongings from theft.' So he left him, and the people began to make doors. A majority of the community, among them Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The houses are not like the mosque, and their people have the right to refuse entry and to restrict access. This is how it is practiced today.

This disagreement is compounded by the difference in Mecca: is it by conquest as narrated from Malik and al-Awza'i? Or by treaty as narrated from al-Shafi'i? Whoever sees it as a treaty, then equality in the houses is a celebration for him. Whoever sees it as conquest can say: The equality in it was determined by the imams who did not assign it to anyone, and rather it is the residence of whoever resides there by his own choice.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The apparent meaning of the Prophet's saying, blessings and peace be upon him, 'Did Aqil leave us a house?' necessitates equality, and that it is owned and prohibited according to the two interpretations of his saying, blessings and peace be upon him. This is because it has been interpreted to mean that he inherited all the houses of Abu Talib and others, and it has been interpreted to mean that he sold the houses of Banu Hashim when they migrated. A proof for the ownership of their houses is that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, bought a house for the prison from Safwan ibn Umayyah for four thousand, and it is valid that equality at the time of the season is for necessity and need, thus the matter at that time goes beyond consideration of conquest and treaty.

And His saying, the Exalted, 'with deviation,' Abu Ubaidah said: The 'ba' is extra, and from it is the saying of the poet:

In a Yemeni valley where the shath grows, its upper part and lower part are with marakh and shabahan.

And from it is the saying of al-A'sha:

I guaranteed the livelihood of our children with our spears...

This is abundant. It is permissible that the meaning is: And whoever intends therein for the people with deviation.

And 'deviation' means inclination, and this deviation and injustice encompasses all sins from disbelief to minor sins. Due to the great sanctity of the place, Allah, the Exalted, warned against the evil intention therein. Whoever intends an evil deed and does not carry it out will not be held accountable for that except in Mecca. This is the saying of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, and a group of the companions and others. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: The deviation in this verse is polytheism. He also said: Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: The saying 'No, by Allah, but yes, by Allah' in Mecca is from deviation. Habib ibn Abi Thabit said: The act of monopolizing in Mecca is from deviation by injustice.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the generality comes upon all of this. A group read: 'And whoever comes' from the coming, as reported by Al-Firā'. The first is clearer, broader, and more commendable for the place. And 'whoever' is a conditional particle that necessitates the verb, and this prevented its conjunction with 'those' and Allah is the One sought for help.