His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And when the believers saw the confederates, they said, 'This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.' And it only increased them in faith and submission.﴾ ﴿Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah. So among them is he who has fulfilled his vow, and among them is he who is still waiting. And they have not changed in the least.﴾ ﴿So that Allah may reward the truthful for their truthfulness and punish the hypocrites if He wills or turn to them in repentance. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.﴾

Allah, exalted and majestic is He, described the believers when they saw the gathering of the confederates for their war, and their patience in the face of calamity, and their confirmation of Allah's promise, exalted and majestic is He, through the tongue of His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. The interpreters differed on what they meant by the promise of Allah and His Messenger. One group said: They meant what the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, informed them of when he commanded them to dig the trench. For he informed them that they would be besieged and commanded them to prepare for that, and that they would be granted victory thereafter. So when they saw the confederates, they said: 'This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us,' and they submitted to the initial matter and awaited their reward.

Another group said: They meant by the promise of Allah what was revealed in Surah Al-Baqarah, from His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿Or did you think that you would enter Paradise while there has not yet come to you the example of those who passed on before you? They were touched by adversity and hardship and were shaken until the Messenger and those who believed with him said, 'When will the help of Allah come?' Unquestionably, the help of Allah is near.﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 214].

It is possible that the believers looked at this verse and at the words of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when he commanded them to dig the trench, and they referred by the promise to all of that. These are two statements, one from Allah, exalted and majestic is He, and the other from His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him.

The increase in faith is in its attributes, not in its essence; for its stability and the removal of doubts from it and the suspicions is an increase in its attributes. It is possible that their faith increased by what occurred and by what the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, informed them of that had not yet occurred. So the increase - in this regard - is in those who believe in it, not in the essence of faith. Ibn Abi Abla read: 'And it did not increase them' with the 'wa' of conjunction.

And 'submission' is the compliance to the command of Allah, exalted and majestic is He, as it came. Among that is what we mentioned that the believers said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, at the height of that fear: 'This is a great matter, is there anything we should say?' He said: 'Say: O Allah, secure our hearts and cover our faults.' So the Muslims said it in those difficulties.

Then Allah, exalted and majestic is He, praised men among the believers who made a covenant with Allah, exalted and majestic is He, for complete steadfastness, and they fulfilled it and completed their vows, meaning their pledges and covenants. And 'nathb' - in the speech of the Arabs - means vows, and the thing that a person commits to and believes in fulfilling. Among that is the saying of the poet:

He fulfilled his vow in the meeting of the people,

The meaning is that he committed to patience until victory or death, and he died. And among that is the saying of Jarir:

With a blow, we fought the kings, and our horses ran

In the evening on a great matter we committed to.

Meaning: on a great matter he committed to standing by it, as if it were a great danger.

Death may be called 'nuhb', and with it Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, interpreted this verse. Al-Hasan said: 'He has fulfilled his nuhb': he died on a covenant. It is said of one who strives in a matter until he dies: he has fulfilled his nuhb. It is said of one who has died: so-and-so has fulfilled his nuhb. This is a metaphor, as if death is something that a person must encounter, and thus it is called nuhb for that reason.

Among those whom the interpreters have named as being referred to by this verse is Anas ibn al-Nadr, the uncle of Anas ibn Malik. This is because he was absent from Badr, which saddened him, and he said: 'If I witness a battle with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, Allah will see what I do.' When Uhud occurred, he displayed excellent valor until he was killed, and he was found with more than eighty wounds. A group said: This reference is to Anas ibn al-Nadr and his peers among those who were martyred in the cause of Allah, the Exalted. Muqatil and al-Kalbi said: The men who fulfilled what they had pledged to Allah are the people of the seventy from al-Aqabah, the people of the pledge. Another group said: Those described as fulfilling the nuhb are a group from the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, who fulfilled their Islamic covenants completely. Among them are the martyrs, and the ten whom the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, testified for Paradise, as well as those who attained this rank among those not specifically mentioned. This statement is supported by the fact that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was on the pulpit when an Arab asked him: 'O Messenger of Allah, who has fulfilled his nuhb?' The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was silent for a while, then Talhah ibn Ubaydullah entered at the door of the mosque, wearing two green garments. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Where is the questioner?' He replied: 'Here I am, O Messenger of Allah.' The Prophet said: 'This is among those who have fulfilled their nuhb.' This is the strongest evidence that nuhb is not conditioned by death. Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan said: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, say:

And the لام in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿لِيَجْزِيَ اللهُ﴾ is the لام of becoming and consequence. It is possible that it is the لام of purpose. The punishment of the hypocrites is the result of their persistence in hypocrisy until their death. Repentance is equivalent to that persistence. The result of repentance is leaving them without punishment. Thus, there are two degrees: persistence in hypocrisy, or repentance from it. From these, there are two outcomes: punishment or mercy. So, the Exalted mentioned - in a manner of brevity - one from these two, and one from these two, and what was mentioned indicates what was omitted from mention. And it indicates to you that the meaning of His saying: 'لِيُعَذِّبَ' is to persist in hypocrisy. His saying: 'إنْ شاءَ' and its equivalence with repentance and the particle 'أو' do not allow anyone to say that 'إنْ شاءَ' is valid in the punishment of a hypocrite for his hypocrisy. Rather, Allah has decreed upon Himself the punishment of him.