His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "O Prophet, say to those who are in your hands of the captives, if Allah knows in your hearts any good, He will give you better than what has been taken from you and will forgive you. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." "And if they intend to betray you, they have already betrayed Allah before. So He has given you power over them. And Allah is Knowing and Wise." It has been narrated that the captives at Badr informed the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that they had a desire for Islam and that they hoped for it. They said that if they were ransomed and returned to their people, they would commit to bringing them to Islam and would strive for that purpose. This was the reason for the revelation of this verse. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The captives in this verse are Abbas and his companions. They said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: We believe in what you have brought and we bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah. We will certainly advise you regarding our people. Thus, this verse was revealed. The majority of people read: "of the captives," while Abu Amr alone among the seven reciters read: "of the captives" with a different pronunciation. This is the reading of Abu Ja'far, Qatadah, Nasr ibn Asim, and Ibn Abu Ishaq. There is a difference reported from Hasan ibn Abi Hasan and from Al-Jahdari. Ibn Muhaisin read: "of the captives" with assimilation. The meaning of the words is: If this is serious from you and Allah knows from your souls the good and Islam, He will compensate you with better than what you were given as ransom, and He will forgive you all that you have committed. Al-Amash read: "He will reward you with good." The majority of people read: "has been taken" with the hamzah pronounced and the kha' broken. Shibah ibn Nisaah and Abu Haywah read: "took" with both letters opened. It has been narrated that the captives of Badr were ransomed for forty uqiyyah each, except for Abbas, who was ransomed for one hundred uqiyyah. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: An uqiyyah is forty dirhams. Qatadah said: They ransomed them for four thousand, four thousand. Ubaydah Al-Salmani said: The ransom for the captives of Badr was one hundred uqiyyah, and an uqiyyah is forty dirhams, and from the dinars, it is six dinars. It has been narrated that Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib said: This verse was revealed concerning me and my companions. He said when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, gave him from the wealth of Bahrain what he could carry: "This is better than what has been taken from me, and I hope that Allah will forgive me." Al-Tabari also reported from Abbas that he said: "This was revealed when I informed the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, of my Islam and asked him to account me for the twenty uqiyyah that were taken from me before the ransom, but he refused and said: 'That is spoils.' So Allah replaced for me from that twenty slaves, all of whom traded with my wealth." It has been narrated from Abbas that he said: I would not wish that this verse had not been revealed, even if I had the whole world, for Allah has given me from what was taken from me, and I hope that He will forgive me. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And if they intend to betray you, they have already betrayed Allah." This verse.

A saying that was commanded to be said to the captives and to convey its meaning to them. The meaning is: If they are sincere, He will act with them in such a way. If they harbor betrayal of what they claimed to be entrusted with from the covenant, then that will not please them, nor will they find solace in it. Indeed, Allah is on the lookout for them, those who betrayed Him before with their disbelief and their neglect of contemplating His signs. He has made them clear to them, a clarity they can attain, so it became like a well-established covenant. Their recompense for their betrayal of Him is that He enabled the believers over them and made them captives in their hands. And His saying, 'All-Knowing, Wise' are two appropriate attributes. That is: All-Knowing of what they conceal of sincerity or betrayal, Wise in what He recompenses them with.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: As for the interpretation of this verse with the story of Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh, it should be clarified. If the story of Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh is brought as an example, just as examples can be brought from our time, then that is good. But if it is brought to claim that the verse was revealed regarding that, then it is an error. This is because the matter of Ibn Abi Sarh became clear on the day of the conquest of Mecca, while this verse was revealed after Badr.