His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿How could it be, and if they gain the upper hand over you, they will not regard in you any pact or obligation. They seek to please you with their mouths, but their hearts refuse, and most of them are transgressors.﴾ ﴿They have exchanged the verses of Allah for a small price, so they have hindered from His path. Indeed, evil is what they were doing.﴾ ﴿They do not regard in a believer any pact or obligation. And those are the transgressors.﴾

After "How" in this verse, there is an implied action that must be understood, indicated by what has preceded it. It is appropriate to interpret it as: "How could they have a covenant?" Similar to the poet's words:

And I informed Tamani that death is in the villages ∗∗∗ So how could this be, while there is a hill and a dune.

(p-265) And in "How" here is an emphasis on the improbability mentioned in the first part. And "they do not regard" means: they do not care or preserve. The root of 'irtiqab' is with the eye, and from it is 'raqib' in gambling and others. Then it was said for everyone who preserves something and takes care of it: he observed it and awaited it.

And the majority of the people read: "illa", while Ikrimah, the freedman of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, read it with a light 'ya' after the hamzah: "Iyla", and a group read: "Allan" with the hamzah opened. As for those who read: "illa", it may refer to Allah, exalted and majestic is He, as Mujahid and Abu Mujliz said. This is his name in Syriac and was Arabized. From this is the saying of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, when he heard the words of Musaylimah, he said: This is a speech that did not come from 'Ilah'. It may also refer to the covenant, and the Arabs say for covenant, character, and neighborhood, and similar meanings: 'illa'. From this is the saying of Abu Jahl:

For 'Ilah' upon us is a duty we do not neglect ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ strong in its power, not to be broken.

And it may refer to kinship, for kinship in the language of the Arabs is called: 'illa', and from this is the saying of Ibn Muqbil:

Corrupting people are those who followed ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ they severed the 'illa' and the roots of the womb.

(p-266) Abu Ubaidah recited it regarding kinship, and its apparent meaning is in covenants. From this is the saying of Hassan:

By your life, indeed, your 'Ilah' in Quraysh ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ like the 'Ilah' of the young from the neck of the ostrich.

As for those who read: "Allan" with the hamzah opened, it is a source from the action of 'al', which is the covenant. And for those who read: "Iyla", it may refer to Allah, exalted and majestic is He, for it is said: 'Ilah' and 'Iyl'. In al-Bukhari, Allah said: Jibril, and Mikail, and Saraf: a servant in Syriac, and 'Ilah': Allah, exalted and majestic is He. It may also refer to the previous 'illa', and he replaced one of the two with a 'ya', as they did in their saying: 'amma' and 'ayma', and from this is the saying of Sa'd ibn Qurt who mocked his mother:

Oh, I wish our mother had taken her sheep ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ 'ayma to a garden, 'ayma to a fire.

And from this is the saying of Umar ibn Abi Rabi'ah:

She saw a man 'ayma when the sun opposed ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ it becomes bright, and in the evening it shortens.

Another said:

Do not corrupt a father for you ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ 'ayma for us, 'ayma for you.

Abu al-Fath said: It may be taken from 'al' which means to govern.

As Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "We have been given and we have been taken from," the meaning of this is: they do not regard you with any politics, nor diplomacy, nor covenant. The 'waw' was changed to a 'ya' due to its being in a state of sukoon and the kasrah before it.

And "dhimmah" also means covenant, alliance, and protection. Similar to the saying of al-Asma'i: "Dhimmah is everything that must be preserved and protected." So whoever sees in "al-il" that it is the covenant, he makes them two different words for one meaning or a similar meaning. And whoever sees "al-il" for something other than that, then they are two words for two meanings.

And (their hearts refuse) means: they refuse to submit to what they say with their tongues. And 'aba' (to refuse) is rare; it is not preserved in the form of 'fa'ala' (he did) in the past and future. It has been reported that 'rakan' (to lean) is used.

And His saying: "And most of them" means by it all, or he intends to exclude those who have been judged with faith; all of this is possible.

And His saying, the Exalted: "They have purchased with the signs of Allah a small price"—the necessary implication of the words of this verse is that this disbelieving group described previously, when they left the signs of Allah and His religion and preferred disbelief, their state in their lands is like buying and selling, as it was a leaving of what they had been enabled to and taking what can be cast aside. This is the view of Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, regarding the prohibition of choosing the buyer in what differs among the types of his kind, and it is not permissible to differentiate in it. This has been mentioned previously in Surah Al-Baqarah.

And His saying: "And they obstructed from His path" means: they obstructed themselves and others. Then He judged them that their deed is evil, and "saa" in this verse—since its object is not mentioned—can be understood as being implied like "bi'sa" (what a bad thing). But if you say: "Zayd's deed has saddened me," there is no implication in any way. And if you assume an object in this verse, the implication is removed.

It has been narrated that Abu Sufyan ibn Harb gathered some of the Arabs for a meal and urged them towards a form of breach, and they responded to that, so the verse was revealed. And some people said: this is about the Jews.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This saying, although the words of this verse imply it, what is before it and after it refutes it and disassociates from it, and the style of the saying becomes flawed by it.

And His saying, the Exalted: "They do not regard"—this verse describes this purchasing group, weakening what was said by those who claimed that His saying: "They purchased with the signs of Allah" is about the Jews. And His saying, the Exalted: "in a believer" indicates that their enmity is only according to faith. And His saying first: "in you" could have been understood by some to be for the enmities that occurred, but this possibility is removed by His saying: "in a believer." Then He described them with transgression and the audacity of breaching covenants and delving into falsehood.