His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And We have certainly conveyed to them the saying so that perhaps they will remember." "Those to whom We gave the Scripture before it, they believe in it." "And when it is recited to them, they say, 'We have believed in it. Indeed, it is the truth from our Lord. Indeed, we were Muslims before it.'" "Those will be given their reward twice for what they patiently endured and they avert evil by good, and from what We have provided them, they spend." "And when they hear ill speech, they turn away from it and say, 'For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds. Peace be upon you; we do not seek the ignorant.'"

Those to whom the saying reached are the Quraysh, as stated by Mujahid and others. Abu Rafi' al-Qurazi said: It was revealed about the Jews, and I am one of ten of them, as mentioned by al-Tabari.

The majority said: Its meaning is that We conveyed to them in the Qur'an and followed it, connecting some of it with others in admonitions, warnings, and calling to Islam. Al-Hasan said: And in mentioning the destroyed nations, a story was conveyed to them, story by story, according to the passage of days. Mujahid believed that the meaning of "We have conveyed" is "We have detailed," meaning: We made it distinct in terms of the types of sayings with different meanings. The connection of some of it with others is established from another perspective, but what is counted here is the categorization of it into types of sayings. The majority held that this connection, which He conveyed to them, means: He conveyed the meanings of admonition, warning, reward, and others. A group believed that the reference to the conveying of the saying is to the words, meaning the miraculous nature, so the meaning is: "And We have certainly conveyed to them a miraculous saying regarding your prophethood."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first meaning can be understood as: "And We have certainly conveyed to them a saying that includes the meanings of those who are guided." Al-Hasan read: "And We have certainly connected" with a softened 's'. And His saying: "So that perhaps they will remember" means: they will take admonition from the Qur'an regarding the worship of idols, or they will remember Muhammad and believe in him.

Then Allah, the Most High, mentioned the people who believed from the People of the Book, boasting about them to Quraysh. There is a difference of opinion regarding to whom the reference is made. It is said: to a group of Jews who converted to Islam and faced harm from the disbelievers. It is said: to the monk Bahir, and Al-Zahrawi said: to the Negus. It is also said: to Salman and Ibn Salam. Al-Tabari narrated from Ali ibn Abi Rafi' who said: Ten men from the People of the Book went out, among them Abu Rafi' - meaning his father - and they converted to Islam. They were harmed, and this verse was revealed about them. The pronoun in "before it" can be understood to refer to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and it can be understood to refer to the Qur'an. What follows supports this, which is His saying: "And when it is recited to them." And His saying: "Indeed, we were before it Muslims" refers to the Islam that they acquired from the Shari'ah of Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them. And the giving of their reward twice means: for two religions, and for their belief in two Shari'ahs. This meaning is what the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, mentioned: "Three will be given their reward twice by Allah: a man from the People of the Book who believed in his Prophet and believed in me, and a sincere servant in the worship of his Lord and the service of his master, and a man who had a female slave, so he educated her and taught her, then he freed her and married her."

And His saying, the Most High: "Because of what they patiently endured" is general regarding their patience on their religion, then on this and on the harm they faced from the disbelievers and others. And His saying, the Most High: "And they repel" means: they push away. This is a description of noble morals, meaning: they cooperate, and whoever speaks ill to them, they do not respond to him but instead meet him with good words that repel it. And this verse is about reconciliation, and it is from the early days of Islam, and it is what was abrogated by the verse of the sword. However, its ruling remains for what is less than disbelief, which the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, will practice until the Day of Resurrection. And His saying, the Most High: "And from what We have provided them, they spend" is praise for them for spending in obedience and according to the law, and in that is encouragement for charity and similar acts.

And "the vain" refers to vain speech, and the oath is vain, according to the disagreement regarding them. And the speech of the listener of the sermon is vain. What is meant by this - in this verse - is what was abusive and harmful and similar to it. The etiquette of the people of Islam is to turn away from it, and the saying - in the context of disavowal - "For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds." Ibn Zayd said: The vain here is what the Children of Israel wrote in the Torah that is not from Allah, glorified and exalted is He.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This reconciliation is for the Children of Israel, among the disbelievers from them, and "Peace be upon you" in this context is not intended as a greeting, but the term of greeting is intended for cessation. It is a comforting term for its listener; for it is in the common usage a greeting. Al-Zajjaj said: This is before the command to fight, and "We do not seek the ignorant" means: we do not seek them for argumentation and debate and contention.