His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And when they come to you, they say, 'We have believed,' while they have entered with disbelief, and they have gone out with it. And Allah knows best what they were concealing." "And you see many of them hastening to sin and aggression and their consuming of illicit gain. Evil is what they were doing." "If only the rabbis and the scholars had forbidden them from their saying of sin and their consuming of illicit gain. Evil is what they were producing." "And the Jews said, 'The hand of Allah is chained.' Their hands have been chained, and they were cursed for what they said. Rather, both His hands are extended; He spends however He wills. And certainly, many of them will increase what has been revealed to you from your Lord in transgression and disbelief. And We have cast enmity and hatred among them until the Day of Resurrection. Every time they kindled a fire for war, Allah extinguished it. And they strive throughout the land, causing corruption. And Allah does not like the corruptors." The pronoun in "they come to you" refers to the Jews contemporary to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - especially to the hypocrites. Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and Al-Suddi have stated this. Then, He informed that they entered as disbelievers and exited likewise; the admonition did not benefit them, nor did the reminder help them. His saying: "And they" clarifies the possibility of worship that a people may enter with disbelief and then believe, and a people may exit while they are disbelievers. Thus, it applies to all: "And they entered with disbelief and exited with it." His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And Allah knows best what they were concealing" means: of disbelief. And His saying to His Prophet: "And you see" can be understood as from the sight of the eye, or from the sight of the heart. The second object is "hastening," and in the first possibility, "hastening" is a state. "In sin" means: in the causes of sin; for sin is the ruling attached to the one who commits the disobedience, and the relation that he attains when the sin occurs. And among these is their disbelief; and "and aggression" is a source from: "the man wronged" when he oppressed and exceeded the limit. And "illicit gain" refers to bribery and all of their vile earnings. The "lam" in "Evil is what they were doing" is a lam of oath. Abu Haywah read: "and aggression" with a kasra on the 'ain. And His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "If only the rabbis and the scholars had forbidden them" is a specification that contains a reprimand for them, as they left what was necessary. Al-Tabari said: All the scholars say that there is no verse in the Qur'an that is more severe in reprimanding the scholars than this verse, nor more frightening for them than it. And Al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim said: There is no verse in the Qur'an that is more frightening to me than it; that we do not forbid. Ibn Abbas said something similar to this. Al-Jarrah and Abu Waqid read: "the rabbis" with a kasra on the 'ra. One of them is a rabbi, either attributed to the knowledge of the Lord, or from the upbringing of people with small knowledge before the greater knowledge. The 'noon' was added to his attribution for emphasis, like "Sha'ranī" and "Manzharānī" and "Makbārānī." And Al-Hasan said: The rabbi is the scholar of the Gospel, and the scholar is the scholar of the Torah.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And his saying about "the Rabbaniyy"; is rare and distant.

And "the scholars": one of them is "hibr"; with a kasra on the ح and a fatha on it; and they are the scholars who do not concern themselves with reforming the people; nor are they tasked with that; and the Rabbaniyy is the knowledgeable reformer who manages; and His saying, the Exalted, ﴿about their saying: 'the sin'﴾; it is apparent that the sin here is intended to mean disbelief; and it is possible that it refers to all their rejected words about the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and the believers; and Ibn Abbas read: "Wretched is what they used to do"; without the lam of oath.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And the Jews said﴾; up to His saying: ﴿He does not love the corruptors﴾; this verse enumerates a great deal of their sayings and disbelief; meaning: "So whoever says this great thing, it is not to be wondered at if he hypocritically opposes you, O Muhammad; and strives to refute the command of Allah that He has revealed to you"; and Ibn Abbas; and a group of the interpreters said: The meaning of their saying is miserliness; and that is because they were afflicted with famine and hardship; so they said this expression; meaning that Allah was miserly with them regarding provision; and expansion; and this meaning resembles what is in His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And do not make your hand tied to your neck﴾ [Al-Isra: 29]; for the intended meaning is: "Do not be miserly"; and from it is the saying of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: "The example of the miser and the one who gives charity..."; the hadith; and Al-Tabari and Al-Naqqash mentioned that this verse was revealed about "Finhas"; the Jew; and that he said it; and Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan said: Their saying: ﴿The hand of Allah is tied﴾; they only mean: "from His punishment"; so it is - on this - in the meaning of their saying: ﴿We are the children of Allah and His beloved﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 18]; and Al-Suddi said: They intended by that that His hand is tied until He returns our kingdom to us.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It is as if they meant that His power, the Exalted, has diminished; until they were overpowered in their kingdom; and the apparent doctrine of the Jews - may Allah curse them - in this statement is anthropomorphism; and likewise, it gives much of their sayings.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Their hands are tied﴾; is a curse upon them; and it is possible that it is a report; and it is valid for both possibilities that this could be in this world; and that it could refer to the Hereafter; and if it is a report about this world, the meaning is: "Their hands are tied from good; and spending in the way of Allah; and similar"; and if it is a report about the Hereafter, the meaning is: "They are tied in the fire of Hell"; meaning: "This has been decreed upon them; and the decree has been executed; just as the curse has been decreed upon them by their saying this; and by what has occurred in its context"; and Abu Al-Sammal read: "And they were cursed"; with the 'ain being silent; and that is intended for easing; especially here for the descent from a dhamma to a kasra.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Rather, both His hands are outstretched﴾; the creed in this meaning is the negation of resemblance from Allah, the Exalted; and that He is not a body; nor does He have limbs; nor is He compared to anything; nor is He confined to a direction like substances; nor do occurrences affect Him; glorified and exalted is He above what the falsifiers say.

Then the scholars differed regarding what should be believed about His saying, the Most High: ﴿Rather, His two hands﴾; and in His saying: ﴿In My two hands﴾ [Sad: 75]; ﴿Our hands have worked﴾ [Ya-Sin: 71]; ﴿The hand of Allah is above their hands﴾ [Al-Fath: 10]; ﴿And to be made under My watch﴾ [Ta-Ha: 39]; ﴿It flows before Our eyes﴾ [Al-Qamar: 14]; ﴿And be patient for the judgment of your Lord, for you are in Our sight﴾ [At-Tur: 48]; and ﴿Everything will perish except His Face﴾ [Al-Qasas: 88]; and similar to this. A group of scholars - among them Al-Sha'bi, Ibn Al-Musayyib, and Sufyan - said: "These matters should be believed in; and they should be recited as Allah has stated; and there should be no effort to interpret them; nor should there be any division of opinion about them."

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is a statement that is inconsistent; because those who say it agree that they are not upon their apparent meaning in the speech of the Arabs; so if they do this, they have engaged in interpretation; and remaining silent about the matter after this leads to confusion for the common people; and misleads the ignorant.

The majority of the Ummah said: "Rather, these matters should be interpreted according to the rules of language; and the metaphor of borrowing; and other than that from the styles of the speech of the Arabs"; they said regarding "the eye" and "the eyes": that it is an expression of knowledge; and perception; as it is said: "So-and-so is within sight and hearing of So-and-so"; if he is concerned with his affairs; even if he is absent from him; and they said regarding "the face": that it is an expression of the essence; and its attributes; and they said regarding "the hand" and "the right hand" and "the hands": that it sometimes comes with the meaning of "ability"; as the Arabs say: "I have no hand in this"; and sometimes with the meaning of "blessing"; as it is said: "So-and-so has a hand with So-and-so"; and it can mean "ownership"; as it is said: "The hand of So-and-so is upon his land"; and these meanings, when they are mentioned about Allah - glorified and exalted is He - are expressed with the hand; or the hands; or the two hands; using the eloquence of the Arabs; and for the brevity that is in that; and this is the doctrine of Abu Ma'ali and the experts.

And a group of scholars - among them Qadi Ibn Al-Tayyib - said: All of these are attributes that are additional to the essence; established for Allah without there being any resemblance or limitation in that; and this was mentioned by Al-Tabari and others.

Ibn Abbas - regarding this verse - said: His two hands: His two blessings; then the expression of the people differed in identifying the two blessings; it was said: The blessing of this world; and the blessing of the Hereafter; and it was said: The apparent blessing; and the hidden blessing; and it was said: The blessing of rain; and the blessing of vegetation.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The apparent meaning of His saying, the Most High: ﴿Rather, His two hands are outstretched﴾; is an expression of His grace in general; and He expressed it with two hands following the way of the Arabs in their saying: "So-and-so spends with both his hands"; and from this is the saying of the poet - who is Al-A'sha -:

Your hands are the hands of glory, and one hand is generous, And a hand that, when it is stingy with wealth, you spend.

And what supports that the two hands here mean grace is the context of spending; Abu Amr Al-Dani said: And Abu Abdullah read: "Rather, His two hands are outstretched"; it is said: "A hand is outstretched"; meaning: unrestricted; and it has been narrated from him: "outstretched."

And His saying, exalted is He: "And He will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief of what has been revealed to you from your Lord"; it is a notification to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - that these Jews are so obstinate and far from the truth that when they hear these secrets that belong to them, and the sayings that no one knows except them are revealed to you, they become arrogant and disbelieve. Their due would have been to believe, as they know that you do not know them except by means of Allah; but their obstinacy is such that it increases them in transgression. And He specifically mentioned many, as among them are those who believe in Allah and those who do not transgress all transgression.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And We cast between them animosity and hatred"; it is connected to His saying: "And the Jews said"; thus, it is a narrative where some parts are connected to others. And animosity is more specific than hatred, for every enemy indeed hates, and one may hate someone who is not an enemy. It is as if animosity is something well-known that leads to action and war, while hatred may not go beyond the souls. And Allah has cast both matters upon the Children of Israel.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Whenever they kindled a fire for war, Allah extinguished it"; it is a powerful metaphor indicating the defeat of their gatherings, the scattering of their opinions, and the division of their words. The verse could indicate the state of their ancestors; that is, since they disobeyed and rebelled, Allah has destroyed their kingdom. He struck them with these matters, so no banner will be raised for them until the Day of Resurrection, and they will not fight together except in fortified villages. This is the saying of Al-Rabi' and Al-Suddi and others. Mujahid said: The meaning of the verse is: Whenever they kindled a fire for the war against Muhammad, Allah extinguished it; thus, the verse is a glad tidings for Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - and the believers, and a reference to those present among the Jews.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And they strive"; the meaning of striving in this verse is action and deed. Striving may also come to mean moving on foot, as in His saying, exalted is He: "So strive to the remembrance of Allah" [Al-Jumu'ah: 9]. And although Malik - may Allah have mercy on him - said in Al-Muwatta: "Indeed, striving in His saying: 'So strive to the remembrance of Allah' is action and deed"; however, others among the scholars have interpreted it as moving on foot, which is evident by the context of the urgency of time and by the preposition 'to'. This is supported by the reading of Umar ibn Al-Khattab: "So proceed to the remembrance of Allah."

And His saying, exalted is He: "And Allah does not love the corruptors"; that is, there does not appear upon them from His actions in this world and the Hereafter what necessitates love.