His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And among them are those who harm the Prophet and say, 'He is an ear.' Say, 'An ear of good for you. He believes in Allah and believes for the believers. And a mercy for those who have believed among you. And those who harm the Messenger of Allah, for them is a painful punishment.'" "They swear by Allah to you to please you, while Allah and His Messenger have more right to please them if they were believers." "Do they not know that whoever opposes Allah and His Messenger, for him is the fire of Hell, abiding therein? That is the great disgrace." The pronoun in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And among them" refers back to the hypocrites. And "they harm" is a term that encompasses all that they used to do and say against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in terms of harm. He specifically mentioned after that their saying: "He is an ear." It has been narrated that the one who said this word was Nabtal ibn al-Harith, who was among the leaders of the hypocrites. He is the one about whom the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever wants to see a devil, let him look at Nabtal ibn al-Harith." He was a man with a wild head, unkempt hair, red eyes, and sunken cheeks, deformed. It has been narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri and Mujahid that they interpreted their saying: "He is an ear" to mean that he hears our excuses and our denials and accepts them. That is, we do not care about his harm, nor about falling into him, as he is a listener to everything that is said in terms of excuses and the like. This is a belittlement due to a lack of discernment and being deceived. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and a group with him that they meant by their saying: "He is an ear" that he hears everything that is conveyed to him about us and listens to it and accepts it. This is a doubt from him and a description that he accepts falsehoods and gossip. The meaning of "ear" is a listener. A man is called a listener to every word an ear if he frequently uses his ear. This is naming something by something if it is due to it, just as it is said for a female goat: "eye," and it is said for a she-camel that has shed its teeth: "tooth." It is said that the meaning of his saying, exalted and majestic is He: "ear" is derived from their saying: "He listened to something" when he heard it, just as the poet said: O heart, take solace with a tune, truly my concern is in listening and hearing. And in the revelation: "And it listened to its Lord and it was rightfully guided." [Al-Inshiqaq: 2] And from this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Allah has not permitted anything as He has permitted for a Prophet to sing with the Quran." And from this is the saying of the poet: In listening, the elder permits him, and a conversation like that of a certain one. And from him is the saying of another: Deaf when good is mentioned, I am remembered with it, and when I am mentioned with evil in their presence, they listen.

Nafi' read "أُذْنٌ" with a silent dhāl in both instances. The others read: "أُذُنٌ" with a pronounced dhāl in both instances. All of them read with the addition to "خَيْرٍ" except for what was narrated from 'Asim. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, Mujahid, and 'Isa read differently: "أُذُنٌ خَيْرٌ" with "خَيْرٌ" in the nominative and "أُذُنٌ" with tanwīn. This aligns with the interpretation of al-Hasan that we mentioned, meaning: whoever accepts your excuses is better for you. This reading was narrated from 'Asim. The meaning of "أُذُنُ خَيْرٍ" in the addition is: a listener of good and truth.

And "يُؤْمِنُ بِاللهِ" means: he believes in Allah, and (يُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ) it was said: its meaning is: and he believes the believers, and the لام is extra as it is in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "رَدِفَ لَكُمْ" [An-Naml: 72]. Al-Mubarrid said: it is related to an implied source from the verb as if he said: and his belief is for the believers, meaning his affirmation. It is said: "آمَنتُ لَكَ" meaning I affirmed you, and from it is His saying, blessed and exalted is He: "وَمَا أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ لَنَا" [Yusuf: 17].

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In my opinion, this which has the لام within it implies باء, so the meaning is: and he affirms for the believers what they inform him of. Likewise: and you are not a believer for us in what we say to you. And Allah is the One whose help is sought.

All seven reciters except Hamzah read: "وَرَحْمَةٌ" in the nominative, as an addition to "أُذُنٌ". Hamzah alone read: "وَرَحْمَةٍ" in the genitive, as an addition to "خَيْرٍ". This is the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Abdullah, and al-Amash. He specified the mercy for those who believed, as they are the ones who were saved by the Messenger and succeeded with him. Then, blessed and exalted is He made the painful punishment obligatory for those who harm the Messenger of Allah and decreed it upon them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللهِ لَكُمْ" the apparent meaning of this verse is that it refers to all the hypocrites who swear to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and to the believers that they are among them in religion, and that they are with them in every matter and every party. Yet, they conceal hypocrisy and await the turns of fate. This is the saying of a group from the people of interpretation. A faction narrated that it was revealed because of a man from the hypocrites who said: "If what Muhammad says is true, then I am worse than the donkeys." His saying reached the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, so he called him and confronted him with his words and rebuked him. He swore earnestly that he did not do it, so the verse was revealed regarding that, and His saying: "and Allah."

The doctrine of Sibawayh is that they are two sentences, the first of which was omitted due to the indication of the second upon it. The estimation according to him is: and Allah is more deserving of being pleased by them, and His Messenger is more deserving of being pleased by them. This is like the saying of the poet:

We are with what we have, and you are with what you have, and the opinion is different.

(p-353) And the position of Al-Mubarrad is that in speech there is precedence and delay. Its estimation is: 'And Allah is more deserving of them being pleased,' and His Messenger. He said: And they disliked that the Messenger be combined with Allah in a pronoun, as Al-Naqqash reported from him. And this is of no consequence. In the compilation of Abu Dawood, it is reported that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed been guided, and whoever disobeys them has indeed gone astray.' So he combined in the pronoun. And his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, in another hadith: 'What a bad speaker you are,' this is actually referring to 'And whoever disobeys them,' thus including the disobedient in guidance. It is said that the pronoun in 'pleased' refers back to the mentioned one, as Ru'bah said:

In it are lines of black and white, As if in the skin there is the brightness of leucoderma.

And his saying: 'If they were believers,' means: according to their words and claims.

And his saying: 'Did they not know?' The verse, his saying: 'Did they not' is an affirmation and a warning. In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is: 'Did you not know?' addressing the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and it is a warning to them. Al-A'raj and Al-Hasan read: 'Did they not know?' with a 'taa.' And 'to oppose' means: to contradict and to challenge, which is to give this its limit and that its limit. And Al-Zajjaj said: It is that this is within a limit and that is within a limit.

And his saying: 'So that' is the position of Sibawayh that it is a substitute for the first. And this is objected to by the fact that a thing cannot be substituted until it is fulfilled. And the first in this position has not had its news come after the condition has not been completed. And that sentence is the news. Also, the 'fa' contradicts the substitution. Also, it is in another meaning other than the first, so the substitution is problematic. And if it is softened for the substitution, it is a substitute of inclusion. And others than Sibawayh said: It is merely for the confirmation of the first. And a group of grammarians said: It is in the position of the news of initiation, its estimation is: 'It is obligatory that it has.' And it is said: the meaning is: 'So it is for him that it has.' And a group said: It is initiation and the news is implicit, its estimation is: 'So it is obligatory that he has the fire of Hell.' And this is rejected because initiation with 'that' is not permissible with the implicit news, as Al-Mubarrad said. And it has been reported from Abu Ali Al-Farisi a saying that is close in meaning to the third saying of these that we mentioned; I do not recall its wording now. And all the readers are upon the opening of the second 'that.' And Al-Tabari reported from some grammarians of Basra that he preferred in its reading the breaking of the alif. And Abu Amr Al-Dani mentioned that it is the reading of Ibn Abi Abla, and its aspect in Arabic is strong because the 'fa' necessitates the cutting and the resumption, and because it is suitable in its place for the noun and suitable for the verb. And if it is like that, it is necessary to break it.