His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, Allah has accepted the repentance of the Prophet and the emigrants and the supporters who followed him in the time of hardship, after a group of them almost deviated in their hearts. Then He accepted their repentance. Indeed, He is compassionate and merciful to them." And upon the three who were left behind, until the earth became constricted for them despite its vastness, and their souls became constricted for them, and they thought that there was no refuge from Allah except to Him. Then He accepted their repentance so that they might repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of Repentance, the Most Merciful." "O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with the truthful."

Repentance from Allah is His returning His servant from a state to a higher one. It may often be a return from a state of disobedience to a state of obedience. It may also be a return from a state of obedience to a more complete one. This is His repentance in this verse upon the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, because He returned him from his state before the achievement of the battle and its reward and enduring its hardships to his state after all of that. As for His repentance upon the emigrants and the supporters, their state is subject to being from a shortcoming to obedience and diligence in battle and supporting the religion. As for His repentance upon the group that almost deviated, it is a return from a state of being lowered to a state of forgiveness and pleasure.

And their following him means: they entered into his matter and his call, and they did not prefer themselves over him. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "in the hour of hardship" means: at the time of hardship. He placed the hour in the status of duration, time, and period, even though the common understanding of the hour in language is that it refers to what is little in time, like a portion of the day. Do you not see his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding the time of Friday: "in the first hour and in the second hour"? Here, it is a metaphor, and it is possible that by his saying: "in the hour of hardship" he means the hour in which their determination and submission to bear the hardship occurred, as the entire journey is dependent on that hour, and in it, the reward is with Allah, and the intention is connected. So whoever intends to go out for battle while he is in hardship has indeed followed in the hour of hardship. And if it happens that wealth comes to them during their entire journey, it would not affect their status as followers in the hour of hardship. And hardship is: difficulty, tightness of condition, and lack. From it is His saying, the Most High: "And if the one is in hardship" [Al-Baqarah: 280]. And this is the army of hardship about which the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever equips the army of hardship, for him is Paradise." So, Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, equipped it with a thousand camels and a thousand dinars. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, turned the dinars in his hand and said: "And what is upon Uthman for what he has done after this?" And a man from the Ansar came with seven hundred wasqs of dates. Mujahid and Qatadah said: Indeed, the hardship reached them in that battle, which is the Battle of Tabuk, to the point that they divided a single date between two men. Then the people would take one date, chew it, and drink water with it, and then each of them would do the same. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: And they were afflicted in some of it with severe thirst to the extent that they began to slaughter the camels and drink what was in their bellies of water, and they would squeeze the dung until the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, supplicated for them. He raised his hands in prayer, and he did not lower them until a cloud poured down, and they drank and stored it, then they set out. And the cloud did not leave the army. At that time, a man from the hypocrites said: Is this not just a passing cloud? And the battle was in the intensity of heat, and the people were numerous, so the mounts were scarce, and hardship came to them from all directions. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, reached the outskirts of the enemy's land, and the people of Adhrah and Aylah, and others, made peace with him for tribute and similar arrangements, and then he returned.

As for the deviation that nearly affected the hearts of a group of them, it was said: A group intended to turn back when they encountered hardship and difficulty, as said by Al-Hasan. It was said: Their deviation was due to bad assumptions regarding the intention of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, for that battle because of what they saw of the severity of hardship, the lack of provisions, the distance of difficulty, and the strength of the intended enemy.

And the majority of the seven reciters, and Abu Bakr from Asim, read "tazighu" with the ت from above on the word of the hearts. It was narrated from Abu Amr that he used to merge the د into the ت. Hamzah, and Hafs from Asim, and Al-A'mash, and Al-Jahdari read "yazighu" with the ي meaning the gathering of hearts. Ibn Mas'ud read: "min ba'di ma zaghat qulubun fariqin". Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: "min ba'di ma kadat tazighu". As for "kada", it is possible that three things can be elevated by it; the first and strongest: the story and the matter, this is the view of Sibawayh, and "qulubun" is elevated by "tazighu" on this. The second: that what is necessitated by the mention of the emigrants and the helpers is elevated first, and that is estimated as: "the people", so it is as if he said: "min ba'di ma kadal qawm tazighu qulubun fariqin minhum". The third: that "qulubun" is elevated by it and there is in His saying: "tazighu" a pronoun of "qulubin", and this is permissible likening it to His saying: "wa kana haqqan alayna nasru al-mu'minina" [Ar-Rum: 47]. Also, because this precedence of the news is intended for the delay, and "kada" is likened to "kana" for the necessity of the news for it. Abu Ali said: And this is not permissible in "asa".

Then Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, informed that He also accepted repentance from this group and returned to them, and He was pleased to inform the nation that He is Most Kind, Most Merciful. The three are: Ka'b ibn Malik, Hilal ibn Umayyah Al-Waqifi, and Murarah ibn Al-Rabi' Al-Amiri. It is said: Ibn Rabi'ah, and it is said: Ibn Rabi'i. Their hadith has been narrated in full by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, and it is in the biographies, and for that reason we have abbreviated its narration. They are those who were mentioned in: "wa akharun murjawn" [At-Tawbah: 106]. The meaning of "khullifu": they were delayed and their matter was left, and no excuse was accepted from them nor was it returned to them. So it is as if they were left out from those who excuse themselves. It was said: the meaning of "khullifu" is about the battle of Tabuk, as said by Qatadah, and this is weak and Ka'b ibn Malik himself refuted it and said: the meaning of "khullifu": they were left out from accepting the excuse, and it is not about our being left out from the battle. And this is supported by making "hatta idha daqat" the limit for being left out, and it was not about their being left out from the battle, but rather the earth became narrow for them for being left out from accepting the excuse.

And the majority read: "khullifu" with the خ being pronounced with a dammah and the ل being stressed and kasrah. Ikrimah ibn Harun Al-Makhzumi, Zirr ibn Hubaysh, Amr ibn Ubaid, and Abu Amr also read: "khalafu" with the خ and ل being opened and not stressed. Abu Malik read: "khalifu" with the خ being pronounced with a dammah and the ل being softened with kasrah. Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali, Ali ibn Al-Husayn, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, and Abu Abdur-Rahman read: "khalafu" and the meaning is close to that which preceded it. Abu Ja'far said: And if they had been left out, they would have had no sin. Al-A'mash read: "wa 'ala al-thalathati al-mukhallafina".

And His saying, exalted is He: "by what is spacious" means: by its spaciousness. It is as if He said: according to what it is in itself spacious. So "what" is a source word. "And their souls became constricted upon them" is a metaphor for the fact that worry and grief filled them. "And they thought" in this verse means: they were certain and knowledge was attained for them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Then He turned to them so that they might repent"—when this saying was in the enumeration of His blessings, it appeared in its arrangement in the direction that is from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, so that this would be a reminder of receiving the blessing from Him, and there is no Lord other than Him. If the saying were in the enumeration of sin, the beginning would have been in the direction that is from the sinner, as Allah, exalted is He, said: "So when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate" [As-Saff: 5], so that this would be a stronger confirmation of the sin upon them. This is from the eloquence of the Qur'an and the exquisite arrangement of it and the miraculous consistency of it. The explanation of this verse and the places of its words can only be completed with the study of the hadith of the three who were left behind in the books we mentioned. Their sin was great and they deserved that because the Shari'ah requires them to be serious in it according to their ranks in it and their advancement in it, as they are an example and a proof for the hypocrites and the critics, since Ka'b was from the people of Al-Aqabah and his two companions were from the people of Badr. In this, it necessitates that the knowledgeable man and the one followed has less excuse in falling than others. Al-Awza'i, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote to the victorious Abu Ja'far in his last letter: "And know that your kinship to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, will not increase the right of Allah upon you except in greatness, nor His obedience except in obligation, nor the people in what contradicts that from you except in denial and peace." And indeed, the judge Al-Tanukhi was correct in his saying:

"And blame is attached to the great one, a great one."

And in some narrations of the hadith of the three: "That the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was on the night of their repentance in the house of Umm Salamah, and they had a righteous woman. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to her: 'O Umm Salamah, pray for the repentance of Ka'b ibn Malik and his two companions.' She said: 'O Messenger of Allah, should I not send to them?' He said: 'Then the people will crush you all night and prevent you from sleeping.'"

'And Allah, the Most High, says: "O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with the truthful." This command to be with the people of truth is good after the story of the three, when truth benefited them and took them away from the abodes of the hypocrites. This command came as an interruption in the midst of the speech, as it was necessary to highlight the importance of adhering to it. Ibn Jurayj and others said: The truth in this verse refers to truthful speech. Nafi and Al-Dahhak said that its meaning is broader than truthful speech, and it signifies correctness in religion and being established in goodness, as the Arabs say: 'a truthful return and a truthful man.' This group said: Be with Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and Abu Bakr, and Umar, and the best of the emigrants who were truthful to Allah in Islam. And 'with' in this verse implies companionship in state and participation in the description that necessitates praise. Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abbas read: "And be among the truthful," and it was narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Ibn Mas'ud used to interpret it as referring to truthful speech. It was narrated from him that he said: Lies are not suitable whether in seriousness or jest. Read if you wish: "O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with the truthful."