His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And it is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a matter, that they should have any choice in their matter. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly gone astray in clear error." And when you said to the one whom Allah had bestowed favor upon and you had bestowed favor upon, 'Keep your wife and fear Allah,' while you conceal within yourself that which Allah is to disclose, and you fear the people, whereas Allah is more deserving that you fear Him. So when Zayd had accomplished what he desired of her, We married her to you so that there would not be upon the believers any discomfort concerning the wives of their adopted sons, when they have no desire for them. And the command of Allah is to be fulfilled."

His saying: "And it is not for" indicates negation, and its meaning is prohibition and prevention from doing this. This expression: "it is not for" and "it is not appropriate" and similar phrases come to prohibit something and to decree that it does not exist. Sometimes the prevention of that thing is rational, as in His saying: "It is not for you to plant its trees" [An-Naml: 60]. Sometimes it is known to be prohibited by law, as in His saying, exalted is He: "And it is not for a human being that Allah should speak to him" [Ash-Shura: 51]. Sometimes it is prohibited by a legal ruling, as in this verse, and sometimes it can be in the recommended actions, as when you say: "It is not for you, O so-and-so, to abandon the voluntary prayers," and similar to this.

The reason for this verse, according to Qatadah, Ibn Abbas, and Mujahid, is that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, proposed to Zainab bint Jahsh. She thought that the proposal was for himself, and when he clarified that he intended her for Zayd ibn Harithah, she disliked it and refused. Then the verse was revealed, and Zainab submitted at that time and married him. Ibn Zayd said that it was revealed because "Umm Kulthum bint 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ait offered herself to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and he married her to Zayd ibn Harithah. She and her brother disliked that and said: 'We only wanted the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him,' so he married her to someone else. Then the verse was revealed because of that," and they agreed to the marriage of Zayd.

And "the choice" is a noun meaning selection. This verse is part of His saying, exalted is He: "The Prophet is closer to the believers than their own selves" [Al-Ahzab: 6]. This verse strengthens His saying, exalted is He: "And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses; it is not for them to choose" [Al-Qasas: 68], that "what" is negating and not effective.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, Ibn Amir, Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, Al-A'raj, and 'Isa read: "that they should have" with the 'taa' based on the wording of "the choice." And 'Asim, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Al-Amash, and Abu Abdur-Rahman read: "that they should have" in the meaning of "the choice," and that its feminine form is not real. His saying in the other verse: "they should have no choice" [Al-Qasas: 68] without a feminine marker strengthens this reading that has the 'yaa'.

Then He warned, exalted and majestic is He, and informed that whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has gone astray, and this disobedience encompasses disbelief and what is less than it. Every disobedient person takes from the misguidance in proportion to their disobedience.

Then Allah, the Most High, admonished His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, by His saying: "And when you said..." The people differed in its interpretation. Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, and a group of the commentators - among them Al-Tabari and others - went to the view that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, found Zainab pleasing while she was in the custody of Zayd. He was eager for Zayd to divorce her so that he could marry her. Then when Zayd informed him that he wanted to part with her and complained about her harsh words, disobedience, and verbal harm, and her pride in her lineage, he said to him: "Fear Allah," meaning: in what you say about her, and "Keep your wife," while he concealed his eagerness for Zayd to divorce her. This is what he was hiding in himself, but he adhered to what was required of him in enjoining what is good. They said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, feared the people's words regarding that, so Allah, the Most High, admonished him for all of this.

Ibn Abi Abla read: "What Allah will make evident." Al-Hasan said: Nothing was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that was harder on him than this verse. He and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: If the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, were to conceal anything from the revelation, he would have concealed this verse due to its severity upon him. Ibn Zayd narrated something similar to this saying: "The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, sought Zayd in his house but did not find him. He saw Zainab unveiled and she pleased him, so he said: 'Glorified is Allah, the Turner of hearts.'" And there are many things narrated in this story that would take long to mention, but what we have mentioned is sufficient for its meanings.

A group of the interpreters went to the view that there is no significant admonition in the verse. They narrated from Ali ibn Al-Husayn that it was revealed to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that Zayd would divorce Zainab, and that he would marry her by Allah's marriage to her. When Zayd complained to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, about Zainab's character and that she did not obey him, and informed him that he wanted to divorce her, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him in a manner of etiquette and advice: "Fear Allah" - meaning in your words - "and keep your wife," while he knew that he would part with her. This is what he concealed in himself, and he did not want to command him to divorce her because he knew that he would marry her. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, feared that people would say something about him marrying Zainab after Zayd, while he was his patron and had commanded him to divorce her. So Allah, the Most High, admonished him for this degree of fearing the people regarding something that Allah, the Most High, had permitted by saying: "Keep" while knowing that he would divorce her, and informed him that Allah is more deserving of being feared, meaning in every situation.

And His saying, the Most High: "Allah has favored him" means with Islam and other than it, "and you have favored him" means with emancipation, and he is Zayd ibn Harithah. Zainab is the daughter of Jahsh, she is the daughter of Umaymah, the daughter of Abd al-Muttalib, the aunt of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.

Then I know, exalted is He, that He married her to him when Zayd had fulfilled his need of her. This was to establish a Sunnah for the Muslims regarding the wives of their adopted sons. And to clarify that she is not like the prohibition of prophethood. It has been narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Zayd: "I do not find anyone more trustworthy than you, so propose to Zainab on my behalf." He said: So I went and turned my back to her out of respect for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and I proposed to her. She was happy and said: I will not do anything until my Lord commands me. She stood up to her mosque, and the Qur'an was revealed, so the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, married her and consummated the marriage with her.

And "al-watar" means need and desire, and the reference here is to sexual intercourse. Ja'far ibn Muhammad narrated from his forefathers that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I married you to her as a need." Some people have taken from this verse and from the saying of Shu'ayb: "Indeed, I intend to marry you one of these two daughters of mine" [Al-Qasas: 27] that the arrangement of this meaning in the dowries should be: "I marry him to her," thus prioritizing the pronoun of the husband in both verses. However, in my view, this is not necessary, because the husband in the verse is being addressed, so it is appropriate to prioritize him. In the dowries, both spouses are absent, so you may prioritize whom you wish, and there remains no preference except by the degree of men, as they are the maintainers.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And the command of Allah is a thing accomplished" contains an omission of a possessive, the estimation of which is: "And the ruling of the command of Allah" or "the command of Allah is implied." Otherwise, the command is eternal and cannot be described as being accomplished. It is also possible, though unlikely, that "the command" refers to one of the matters that are meant to be acted upon. It has been narrated that Aisha and Zainab competed with each other. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I am the one whose description preceded to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from Paradise (p-124) in the theft of silk. Zainab, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I am the one whom Allah married to me from above the seven heavens. And Al-Shabi said: "Zainab used to say to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: I can prove to you with three things that none of your women can prove with them: that my grandfather and your grandfather are one, and that Allah married me to you from the heavens, and that the messenger in that is Gabriel."