His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"Or do those who commit sins think that they will outrun Us? Evil is what they judge!" "Whoever hopes to meet Allah, then indeed, the appointed time of Allah is coming, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing." "And whoever strives, he only strives for himself. Indeed, Allah is Free of need of the worlds." "And those who have believed and done righteous deeds, We will surely remove from them their misdeeds and We will surely reward them the best of what they used to do."

"Or" is equivalent to the letter 'alif' in His saying: "Did they think?" It is as if He, exalted and majestic is He, has established the two groups: He has established the believers upon their belief that they will not be tested, and He has established the disbelievers who commit sins by punishing the believers and others, upon their belief that they will outrun the punishment of Allah, the Exalted, and will incapacitate Him.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Those who commit sins" - although the disbelievers are the primary intended meaning according to the context of the revelation in which the speech is found - the wording of the verse encompasses every sinner and wrongdoer from among the Muslims and others. And His saying: "Evil is what they judge!" It is permissible that "what" is in the meaning of "that," thus it is in the position of raising, and it is permissible that it is in the position of accusative with the implication of: "Evil is the judgment they judge." In this verse, there is a warning for the disbelievers, and reassurance for the believers, which appears in His promise of victory on the Day of Resurrection, and that it is coming; for Allah, the Exalted, has delayed it and informed of it.

And in His saying: "Whoever hopes to meet Allah" there is affirmation, meaning: whoever is upon this truth, let him be certain that it is coming and let him increase in insight. And Abu Ubaidah said: "Hopes" here means: fears. The correct understanding is that hope here is in its original meaning. And Al-Zajjaj said: the meaning is: the meeting of the reward of Allah. And His saying, exalted is He: "And He is the Hearing, the Knowing" means: of the sayings of every group, the Knowing of the beliefs that they hold.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And whoever strives, he only strives for himself" is an indication that every individual will be rewarded for his good deeds, so it is his share that he should not neglect. Indeed, Allah is Free of need of his striving and of all the worlds.

And these two verses are as if they are [.....] equally directed to the doubtful group who are hesitant in the trial of the disbelievers, who denied that the disbelievers could harm the believers, and they were in doubt because of that. It is as if they were told: whoever believes in resurrection, then the matter is true in itself, and Allah, the Exalted, is on the lookout; meaning: this is insight that should not be believed for the sake of anyone. Likewise, whoever strives, then the fruit of his striving is for him, so he should not bestow it upon anyone. And this is as the debater says when presenting his argument: whoever wants to look at the truth, then the matter is such and such, and similar to this, so contemplate it.

And it is said: the meaning of the verse is: whoever strives against his enemy for himself, not seeking the face of Allah, then indeed, his striving is for himself, not for Allah, the Exalted, and it is not for Allah because of his striving.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a statement mentioned by the interpreters, and it is a weak statement.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And those who believed﴾ is news about the believing emigrants who are in the highest rank of hastening to Allah, blessed and exalted is He. He praised them, the Mighty and Majestic, and their condition, to establish by them the souls of those who lag behind from migration. They are the ones whom the disbelievers tempted to attain this rank. And "the evil deed" refers to disbelief and what it includes. This encompasses the sins of the believers along with the righteous deeds and avoiding the major sins. And in His saying, the Mighty and Majestic: ﴿And We will surely reward them with the best﴾, there is an omitted addition, the meaning of which is: the reward of the best of what they used to do.