His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿And those who believed say, 'Are these the ones who swore by Allah their strongest oaths that they are with you?' Their deeds have failed, so they have become losers.﴾ ﴿O you who have believed, whoever of you turns back from his religion - Allah will bring forth a people He will love and who will love Him, humble toward the believers, mighty against the disbelievers. They strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favor of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.﴾

The readers have differed regarding this verse; Ibn Kathir, Ibn Amir, and Nafi' read: 'says' without the conjunction 'wa' and with the raising of the lam; and this is also established in the manuscripts of Medina and Mecca. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Asim read: 'And says' with the conjunction 'wa' being established; and this is also established in the manuscripts of the Kufans. And Al-Tabari said: Thus it is in our manuscripts; the manuscripts of the people of the East. And Abu Amr alone read: 'And he will say' with the conjunction 'wa' being established and the lam being in the accusative. Abu Ali said: And Ali ibn Nasr narrated from Abu Amr the accusative and the raising of the lam. As for the reading of Ibn Kathir and Nafi', it is in agreement with the reading of Hamzah and Al-Kisai, because the 'wa' is not a conjunction linking singular to singular, sharing in the action, but rather it is a conjunction linking sentence to sentence, and it connects them without the 'wa'; since in the second sentence there is mention from the sentence it is connected to, as those who hasten and said: 'We fear' and they become regretful, they are the ones about whom it was said: ﴿Are these the ones who swore by Allah their strongest oaths?﴾. So when the two sentences are like this, it is appropriate for the conjunction to be with or without the 'wa'; just as His saying - exalted is He -: ﴿They will say, 'Three, the fourth of them is their dog,' and they will say, 'Five, the sixth of them is their dog.'﴾ [Al-Kahf: 22]; since in each of the two sentences there is mention of what preceded, it suffices without the 'wa'; and upon this is His saying - exalted is He -: ﴿Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein.﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 39]; and if the 'wa' had entered, and it was said: 'And they will abide therein,' it would have been appropriate.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: But the excellence of eloquence is in brevity; and it indicates the goodness of the entry of the 'wa' is His saying - exalted is He -: ﴿And they will say, 'Seven, and the eighth of them is their dog.'﴾ [Al-Kahf: 22]; so the omission of the 'wa' from His saying: ﴿And those who believed say﴾ is like its omission from this verse; and its inclusion in His saying 'the eighth of them.'

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: Many of the interpreters went to the view that this saying of the believers is only when the victory comes; and the regret of the hypocrites occurs; and Allah, the Most High, exposes them. At that time, the believers will say: ﴿Are these the ones who swore﴾; the verse. The verse can also be understood as a narration of the saying of the believers at the time of the saying of those in whose hearts is a disease: ﴿We fear that a calamity may strike us﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 52]; and regarding their actions, what they did in the narration of Banu Qaynuqa; their secret became apparent in it; and it was understood from them that their adherence to them is merely a trap for Allah and His Messenger. The Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and the believers despised them; and the Prophet left Banu Qaynuqa for Abdullah ibn Ubayy out of a desire for reconciliation and unity; and by the ruling of Abdullah's showing that this is his opinion from himself; and that the calamities which he fears are only those that destroy the city; and the believers knew; and everyone realized that Abdullah was contrary to what he expressed; so that became a place where it is good for the believers to say: ﴿Are these the ones who swore﴾; the verse.

As for the reading of Abu Amr: "And he says" with the lam in the accusative, it cannot be directed with it to be the saying of the believers except at the time of the victory; and the appearance of the regret of the hypocrites; and their disgrace; because the waw is a conjunction of action upon action; participating in the doer; and the direction of the conjunction of "And he says" is consistent on three aspects; one of them: on the meaning; and that is that his saying: ﴿Perhaps Allah will bring about victory﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 52]; the meaning in it is: "Perhaps Allah will bring about victory"; by joining his saying: "And he says" to "will bring"; relying on the meaning; otherwise it is not permissible to say: "Perhaps Allah will say: the believers"; and likewise His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿If only You would delay me to a near term so that I might give charity and be﴾ [Al-Munafiqun: 10]; as the meaning was: "Delay me to a near term; I would give charity"; and "and be" was carried on the jussive that the meaning requires in his saying: "So that I might give charity"; and the second aspect: that his saying: "that He brings about victory" is a substitute for the name of Allah - exalted and majestic -; as was substituted from the pronoun in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And none caused me to forget it except Satan﴾ [Al-Kahf: 63]; then "And he says" is joined to: "that He brings"; because at that time it is as if you said: "Perhaps He will bring"; and the third aspect: that his saying: "And he says" is joined to "and they become"; as it is a verb in the accusative with the fa in the response to the wish; as his saying: "Perhaps Allah"; is a wish and hope in the case of humans; and in this aspect there is a consideration; and likewise in my view in their preventing the permissibility of: "Perhaps Allah will say the believers"; there is a consideration; as Allah, glorified and exalted is He, makes them say with His victory; and the manifestation of His religion; so it should be permissible based on the meaning. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿The effort of their oaths﴾; "effort" was placed in the accusative as a confirmed source; and the meaning is: (p-196) "Are these the ones who swear with great effort among them in oaths: that they are surely with you? Then it has now appeared from them the alliance with the Jews; and the abandonment of the Shariah that contradicts their faith"; and His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Their deeds have become void﴾; it may be a report from Allah, glorified and exalted is He; and it may be from the saying of the believers; in the context of reporting what has occurred in their belief; as they saw the hypocrites in these conditions; and it may be that His saying: ﴿Their deeds have become void﴾; is in the context of supplication; either from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, against them; or from the believers; and the deed becomes void: if it is invalidated after it has occurred; and it may be said: "has become void"; in the deeds of the disbelievers; even if it has not been obtained in the context of comparison; and the majority of people read: "have become void"; with the kasra of the ba; and Abu Waqqid and Al-Jarrah read: with the fatha of the ba; and it is a dialect.

And His saying, the Most High: "O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion"; the verse; Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi, Al-Dahhak, and Qatadah said: The verse was revealed as a speech to the believers in general until the Day of Resurrection; and the reference to the people who will come to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq - may Allah be pleased with him - and his companions who fought against the people of apostasy; and this saying was reported by Ibn Jurayj and others.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The meaning of the verse for me is that Allah promised this nation: whoever among them reverts, He will bring forth a people who will support the religion; and they will suffice for the apostates; thus Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him - and his companions were among those for whom the news was true in that era; and likewise, this is my view regarding Ali - may Allah be pleased with him - with the Khawarij; and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari narrated that when this verse was revealed, the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - recited it and said: "They are the people of this," meaning Abu Musa al-Ash'ari; and this saying was mentioned by Iyyad; and Shuraih ibn Ubayd said: "When this verse was revealed, Umar ibn al-Khattab - may Allah be pleased with him - said: Am I and my people, O Messenger of Allah? The Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "No; but they are the people of this," and he pointed to Abu Musa; and Mujahid and Muhammad ibn Ka'b also said: The reference is to the people of Yemen; and this was said by Shahr ibn Hawshab.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And all of this is, for me, one statement; because the people of Yemen are the people of Abu Musa; and the meaning of the verse according to this statement is addressing all who were present in the era of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - in the sense of alerting them; and admonishing and warning them; and Al-Suddi said: The reference to the people is to the Ansar.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is on the assumption that His saying, the Most High: "O you who have believed"; is a speech to the present believers; encompassing both their believers and hypocrites; because the hypocrites used to show faith; and the reference to apostasy is to the hypocrites; and the meaning is that whoever hypocritically reverts, then the true ones among the Ansar will protect the Sharia; and Allah will cover every deficiency with them; and Abu Amr, Ibn Kathir, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Asim read: "yartadda"; with the merging of the د into the د; and Nafi' and Ibn Amer read: "yartadid"; by leaving the merging; and this is the dialect of Hijaz, "Makkah and its vicinity"; and the merging is the dialect of Tamim.

And His saying, the Most High: "humble toward the believers"; its meaning is: submissive from themselves; not arrogant; and this is like His saying, the Most High: "severe against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves" [Al-Fath: 29]; and like His saying - blessings and peace be upon him -: "The believer is gentle and lenient"; and in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: "humble toward the believers, severe against the disbelievers."

And His saying, the Most High: "And they do not fear the blame of a blamer"; is an indication of the refutation against the hypocrites, in that they used to excuse themselves with the blame of morals and knowledge from the disbelievers; and they took their matters into consideration. And His saying, the Most High: "That is the favor of Allah"; the indication by "that" is to the fact that the people love Allah and He loves them; and it has been mentioned previously more than once regarding the meaning of Allah's love for the servant; and that it is the manifestation of the blessings that indicate His pleasure with him; and His bestowing them upon him; and "wide"; its meaning is: possessing abundance in what He owns, gives, and bestows.