'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion, even if the polytheists dislike it﴾ ﴿O you who have believed, shall I guide you to a trade that will save you from a painful punishment?﴾ ﴿You believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is best for you, if you only knew.﴾ ﴿He will forgive you your sins and admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow and goodly dwellings in gardens of eternity. That is the great attainment.﴾

This is an affirmation of the matter of the message and a strengthening of its support. It is as if a person says regarding a matter he confirms and strengthens: I did it. That is, whoever is able to oppose it, let him oppose. And the 'Messenger' referred to is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿over all religion﴾ is a phrase that is suitable for generality. The meaning may be that there will not remain a place where there is a religion other than Islam. This will only occur at the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him, as said by Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, and Mujahid. It is also possible that the meaning is that He will make it prevail until there is no religion except that Islam is more manifest than it. This has indeed occurred and been realized.

Then, exalted is He, urged the believers and encouraged them to strive in this trade that He clarified. It is that a person gives his soul and his wealth and takes in return the price of the garden of eternity. The majority of people and reciters read: 'will save you' with a lightened noon and a broken jeem without emphasis. Ibn 'Amir alone, along with Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, and Ibn Abi Ishaq, read: 'will save you' with an opened noon and an emphasized jeem. And His saying, exalted is He: 'You believe' is a phrase that is in the form of news, but its meaning is a command, that is: believe. In the Mushaf of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, it is written: 'painful, believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive.' And His saying, exalted is He: 'You believe' is a raised verb, its intended meaning is: that you believe. Al-Akhfash said it is an explanatory conjunction to 'trade,' and Al-Mubarrid said it means: believe in the matter. For this reason, 'He will forgive' is in the jussive form. And His saying, exalted is He: 'That is' refers to striving and belief, and 'best' here may indicate preference, meaning: better than every action. It may also indicate a statement that this is good in itself and in its essence.

And the jussive is His saying, exalted is He: 'He will forgive' as a response to the command implied in 'You believe,' or based on what is included in His saying: 'Shall I guide you?' from encouragement and command. To this effect, Al-Farra' went. It has been narrated from Abu 'Amr ibn Al-'Ala that he read: 'He will overlook you' by merging the ra in the lam, which Sibawayh does not permit. And His saying, exalted is He: 'and goodly dwellings' is an addition to 'gardens,' and 'goodly dwellings' refers to their spaciousness and beauty. It is said that 'goodly' refers to the knowledge of the permanence of their state.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is the correct view. And what good is there with destruction and death?