His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against Allah or denies the truth when it has come to him? Is there not in Hell a residence for the disbelievers?﴾ ﴿And those who strive in Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.﴾

He, exalted and majestic is He, has established the condition of the one who invents a lie against Allah or denies His signs. This was their condition, and He informed them that no one is more unjust than him. This contains a severe warning. Then He clarified the warning by affirming the matter of Hell, and the residence is the place of abode. The words of these verses are in the utmost brevity and conciseness, gathering meanings.

Then He mentioned the condition of His allies and those who strive in Him. He established this by mentioning the disbelievers who are unjust to clarify the contrast between the two conditions. His saying, exalted is He: ﴿in Us﴾ means: in our pleasure and seeking our reward. Al-Suddi and others said: This verse was revealed before the obligation of fighting.

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

It is before the conventional jihad, and it is rather a general jihad in the religion of Allah, exalted is He, and in seeking His pleasure. Al-Hasan said: The verse is about the servants. Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, and Ibrahim ibn Adham said: It is about those who act according to what they know. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever acts according to what he knows, Allah will teach him what he does not know." Some scholars referred to His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And fear Allah, and Allah will teach you﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 282]. Some scholars said to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him: Our deficiency in knowledge of what we are ignorant of is due to our deficiency in acting upon what we know. Abu Sulaiman Al-Darani said: "Jihad in this verse is not only fighting the enemy, but it is supporting the religion, responding to the falsehood of the wrongdoers, and commanding good and forbidding evil." Among it is the struggle of the souls in obedience to Allah, exalted is He, and this is the greater jihad. Al-Hasan and others said this, and there is a hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad." Sufyan ibn Uyaynah said to Ibn Al-Mubarak: When I see people differing, you should stick to the strivers and the people of the borders, for Allah, exalted is He, says: ﴿And those who strive in Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.﴾ Al-Dahhak said: The meaning of the verse is: And those who strove in migration, We will surely guide them to the path of steadfastness in faith. The "path" here may be the paths of Paradise and its ways, and it may be the path of actions leading to Paradise and the enlightened beliefs. Yusuf ibn Asbat said: "It is the rectification of intention in actions, and the love of increasing and understanding. This is that the servant is rewarded for his goodness by the increase of his goodness, and he knows that the one who knows is advanced. This is the state of the one whom Allah is pleased with." The rest of the verse is a promise.

And "with" may be here a noun; therefore, it has a lam for emphasis, and it may be a particle, and the lam entered for what it contains of the meaning of permanence, as it entered in: Indeed, Zayd is certainly in the house.

The tafsir of Surah Al-Ankabut is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad and his family and all his companions.