His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds for them is forgiveness and a great reward." "And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, they are the companions of the Hellfire." "O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when a people intended to extend their hands against you, but He restrained their hands from you. And fear Allah; and upon Allah let the believers rely."

This is a verse of promise for the believers regarding the concealment of sins upon them; and regarding Paradise; for it is the great reward; and "promised" takes two objects; and it is permissible to limit it to one of them; and so it is in this verse; the second object is implied; it is explained and indicated by His saying: "for them is forgiveness"; then He followed it by mentioning the state of the disbelievers; to clarify the difference.

And His saying: "O you who have believed" [Al-Ma'idah: 8] is an address to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and his nation; and the favor is the cause in "when"; and it is a specific favor; and "the man intended to do something"; if he wanted to do it; and from this is the saying of the poet:

"Will it benefit you today if it intended with intent, A multitude of what you advise and the tangled knot?"

And from this is the saying of another:

"I intended and did not do, and I almost did, Oh, would that I had left upon Uthman, his wives weeping."

And the people differed regarding the reason for this verse; and what was the incident in which the intention was to extend the hand; and to refrain from it from Allah, glorified and exalted is He? The majority said: The reason for this verse is that when the people of the well of Ma'oonah were killed, Amr ibn Umayyah al-Dhamri survived from the people; and another man with him; and they met near the city two men from Sulaym; who had taken a covenant from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him; and they turned back; so Amr asked them: From whom are you? They traced their lineage to Banu Amir ibn Tufayl; and he was the one who had wronged the Muslims at the well of Ma'oonah; so Amr and his companion killed them; and they brought their spoils to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him; and he said: "You have killed two men; I will certainly demand retribution for them"; then the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, began to gather the blood money; so one day he went to Banu al-Nadir seeking their assistance in the blood money; and with him were Abu Bakr, Umar, and Ali, may Allah be pleased with them; so he spoke to them; and they said: Yes, O Abu al-Qasim; come down so we can prepare food for you; and consider your assistance; so the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, descended in the shade of a wall; and they conspired among themselves to kill him; and they said: You have never been closer to Muhammad than today; so some of them said to one another: Who is the man who will appear over the wall and throw a stone at him to crush him? Amr ibn Jahhash was volunteered for that, as it has been narrated; and Gabriel came and informed the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him; so the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, stood up from the place; and he headed towards the city; and the verse was revealed regarding that; and in the report there are additions that do not pertain to the verse; and Ibn Ishaq and others have mentioned it; and this saying is supported by what will come later from the verses describing the treachery of the Children of Israel; and their breaking of covenants.

A group of scholars said: The reason for the verse is the action of the Arab in the Battle of 'Dhat al-Riqa'; and it is "the battle of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - against Banu Muharib ibn Khasfah ibn Qays ibn 'Aylan; and that is because he camped in a valley with abundant thorny bushes; so the people scattered in the shade; and a shady tree was left for the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -; so he hung his sword on it; and slept; then a man from Muharib came and drew the sword; the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - woke up and the sword was drawn in his hand; he said to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: Do you fear me? He said: "No"; he said to him: And who will protect you from me? He said: "Allah"; so he sheathed the sword and sat down;" and in Al-Bukhari it is mentioned that the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - called the people and they gathered while he was sitting with the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and he did not punish him; and Al-Waqidi mentioned; and Ibn Abi Hatim from his father that he embraced Islam; and a group mentioned that he struck his head against the trunk of the tree until he died; so the verse was revealed because of that; and in Al-Bukhari; in the Battle of 'Dhat al-Riqa'; that the name of the man was Ghawrath ibn al-Harith - with a ghain marked -; and some people narrated that his name was Dathoor ibn al-Harith.

And Al-Tabari narrated that the verse was revealed because of a group of Jews who intended to kill the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - with food; so Allah informed him of that; then Al-Tabari included under this heading from Ibn Abbas contrary to what has been translated; that a group of Jews prepared food for the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and his companions to kill him when he came to the food.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It seems that Ibn Abbas was describing the story of Banu al-Nadir which preceded this.

And Qatadah said: The reason for the verse is what Muharib and Banu Thalabah intended on the day of Dhat al-Riqa to attack the Muslims during the 'Asr prayer; so Allah informed him - blessed and exalted is He - of that; and the prayer of fear was revealed; so that was a stopping of their hands from the Muslims.

And Ibn Furak narrated from Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan that the verse was revealed because Quraysh sent a man to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - to assassinate him; and Allah - blessed and exalted is He - informed him of that; and protected him from his evil.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The preserved account in this is the rising of 'Umar ibn Wahb for this purpose; after his agreement with Safwan ibn Umayyah; and the complete narration is in the Sirah of Ibn Hisham.

And a group of the interpreters mentioned - and Al-Zajjaj referred to it - that the verse was revealed in His saying - exalted is He -: "Today those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion" [Al-Ma'idah: 3]; so it is as if He - blessed and exalted is He - counted His blessings upon the believers in that He supported them; and by that He stopped the hands of the disbelievers from them which they intended to extend towards the believers.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It is good - according to this saying - that the verse was revealed after the Battle of the Trench; and when Allah defeated the confederates; and Allah sufficed the believers from fighting; and the rest of the verse is a command for piety and reliance.