Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, said:

"And Allah would not punish them while you are among them. And Allah would not punish them while they seek forgiveness."

"And what is [the matter] with them that Allah would not punish them while they avert [people] from al-Masjid al-Haram, and they were not its guardians? Its guardians are not but the righteous, but most of them do not know."

A group said: This entire verse was revealed in Makkah. And another group said: It was all revealed after the Battle of Badr, recounting what had passed. Ibn Abza said: The saying of Allah, "And Allah would not punish them while you are among them," was revealed in Makkah following their saying, "Or bring us a painful punishment" [Al-Anfal: 32]. And the saying, "And Allah would not punish them while they seek forgiveness," was revealed when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was leaving Makkah on his way to Madinah, while there remained in Makkah believers seeking forgiveness. And the saying, "And what is [the matter] with them..." until the end of the verse was revealed after Badr when punishment appeared upon them.

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

And the interpreters have agreed that the meaning of His saying, "And Allah would not punish them while you are among them," is that Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, has never punished a nation while its Prophet is among them. So it was not fitting for Him to punish this nation while you are among them. Rather, your honor with Him is greater. He said - I heard it from Abu Zayd -: I heard from the Arabs who say, "Allah would not punish them" with a fatḥah on the lām, and this is a language that is not known or used in the Qur'an.

They disagreed on the meaning of His saying, "And Allah would not punish them while they seek forgiveness." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, Ibn Abza, Abu Malik, and Al-Dahhak said: The implication is that the pronoun in His saying, "punish them," refers to the disbelievers of Makkah, and the pronoun in His saying, "while they," refers to the believers who remained after the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in Makkah. That is: And Allah would not punish the disbelievers while the believers are among them seeking forgiveness.

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

And this saying negates the idea that the believers to whom the pronoun was referred had no mention. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, also implied that it could be said: Both pronouns refer to the disbelievers. This is because they used to say in their supplications: "Your forgiveness," and they would say: "Here I am, no partner do You have," and similar to this which is a supplication and seeking forgiveness. So Allah made it a protection from the punishment of this world. And on this, the saying of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and Ibn Abbas was constructed: Indeed, Allah made two protections from the punishment of this world: the presence of the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, with the people, and seeking forgiveness. One was lifted, and seeking forgiveness remained until the Day of Resurrection. And Qatadah said: The pronoun refers to the disbelievers.

And His saying, the Exalted, "while they seek forgiveness," is a clause in the position of a condition if it were to occur. The meaning is: And Allah would not punish them while they are in a state of repentance and seeking forgiveness from their disbelief if that were to occur from them. And this was chosen by Al-Tabari. Then the reprimand and stopping - after this - became good with His saying, "And what is [the matter] with them that Allah would not punish them."

Al-Zajjaj said what means: The pronoun in His saying: "and they" refers back to the disbelievers. What is meant by it is: whoever has been decreed in the knowledge of Allah to embrace Islam and seek forgiveness. The meaning is: And Allah would not punish the disbelievers while among them is one who seeks forgiveness and believes in the second state. This was narrated by Al-Tabari from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him.

Mujahid said in the book of Al-Zahrawi: What is meant by His saying: ﴿and they seek forgiveness﴾ is the offspring of the polytheists on that day who have been decreed in the knowledge of Allah to be believers. The meaning is: And Allah would not punish them while their offspring are seeking forgiveness and believing. Thus, seeking forgiveness is attributed to them, since their offspring are from them. Al-Makki mentioned this but did not attribute it.

And in Al-Tabari, from one group, the meaning of ﴿they seek forgiveness﴾ is: they pray. From another group: they embrace Islam. And similar to this are the sayings that are close to the saying of Qatadah. (p-179) And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And what is [the matter] with them that Allah would not punish them﴾ is a threat of worldly punishment. Its interpretation is: And what prevents them from being punished, or what makes them aware of this, and similar to this are the actions that necessitate that "that" be in the position of accusative. Al-Tabari said: Its interpretation is: And what prevents them from being punished. The apparent meaning in His saying: "And what" is that it is an interrogative for the purpose of confirmation, reproach, and questioning. This is clearer in the saying and more decisive for them in the argument. It is also valid that "what" is negating and the saying is informative, meaning: And they are not to be punished while they are turning away.

And His saying:

And they are turning away

is, according to the two interpretations, a phrase in the position of a state. And ﴿they are turning away﴾ in this position means: they prevent others. Thus, it is transitive as he said:

I prevented the cup from us, O mother of Amr

And it may come as non-transitive, as Abu Ali recited:

Khalida prevented us from speaking

And the pronoun in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿His allies﴾ refers back to Allah, exalted and majestic, from His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Allah would punish them﴾, or to the Sacred Mosque. All of this is good; the latter was narrated from Al-Hasan, and the other pronoun follows the first.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿But most of them do not know﴾ means: they do not know that they are not His allies, but they think that they are His allies. And His saying: (most of them) while we find all of them with this attribute, is an external expression either to say: It is an expression of specificity intended for generality, and this is common in the speech of the Arabs. Among them is what Sibawayh narrated from their saying: "Say, who says that?" and they mean: No one says it. Or you may say: He intended by His saying: (most of them) that he knows and feels that among them and within them are people who have inclined to faith and have gained knowledge, even if their outward appearance is disbelief. Thus, he provoked them all by saying: (most of them). And likewise was the case of Mecca and its people, for among them were Abbas and Umm al-Fadl and others.

Al-Tabari narrated from Ikrimah: Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: His saying: ﴿And what is [the matter] with them that Allah would not punish them﴾ abrogates His saying: ﴿And Allah would not punish them while they are seeking forgiveness.﴾

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: There is consideration in this, because it is a report that is not subject to abrogation.