'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' The Exalted said: "But the Messenger and those who believed with him struggled with their wealth and their lives. Those are the ones for whom are the good things, and those are the successful." "Allah has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. That is the great success." "And came the excusers from the Bedouins to be permitted, and those who lied against Allah and His Messenger sat. They will suffer a painful punishment." The most common usage of "but" is to come after a negation, and it is here in meaning. This is because the previous verse means that the hypocrites did not struggle, so it was appropriate afterward: "But the Messenger and the believers struggled." The good things are the plural of good, which is the most commendable of everything. It is often used regarding women, such as His saying: "In them are good and beautiful ones" [Al-Rahman: 70]. Among that is the poet's saying, which Al-Tabari narrated: I have indeed pierced the hearts of the noble women... the noble women of India, the best of queens. And "the successful ones" are those who have attained their desire from Paradise. Success comes with the meaning of attaining the desire, as in the saying of Labid: Succeed with whatever you wish, for it may be attained by the weak... and the close one may be deceived. And it may come with the meaning of permanence, as in the poet's saying: For every worry among the worries, there is a solution... and the night and the morning, there is no success with them. That is, there is no permanence. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And attaining the desire encompasses the term of success wherever it occurs, so contemplate it. And "prepared" means: facilitated and arranged. His saying: "from beneath it" means: from beneath its buildings and heights. And "success" is the attainment of a person of his hope and victory over his desire, and from that is the success of the arrows of the left. And His saying, the Exalted: "And came the excusers from the Bedouins"—the verse, the interpreters differed regarding those who came, were they believers or disbelievers? Ibn Abbas and a group with him from the Mujahidin said: They were believers and their excuses were truthful. And he read: "And came the excusers" with a silent 'ayn, which is the reading of Al-Dahhak, Hamid Al-A'raj, Abu Salih, and Isa ibn Hilal. Some of the speakers of this statement read "the excusers" with a strong 'dhāl. They said: Its origin is "the ones who excuse themselves," so the 'tā' was changed to 'dhāl' and it was assimilated. And "the excusers" in this saying may have two meanings; one of them is: those who excuse themselves with true excuses, and the other is that they have reached their excuse from striving in seeking to join you in the battle but could not. So it would be similar to the saying of Labid: ... and whoever weeps for a complete year has indeed excused himself.

Qatadah and a group with him said: "Rather, those who came are disbelievers, and their saying and excuse are lies." And all of this group read: "the excusers" with a strong dhāl. Among them are those who said: Its root is "the ones who excuse"; the vowel of the tā' was transferred to the 'ayn and the tā' was assimilated into the dhāl. The meaning is: "those who excuse with lies." Among them are those who said: It is from "excusing," meaning those who excuse the raid and defend against the law. The verse, up to its end - according to this saying - describes one type of disbelief that divides into Bedouin and settled. According to the first saying, it described two types: a believer and a disbeliever. Abu Hatim said: Some of them said: I asked Muslima, and he said: "the excusers" with a strong 'ayn and dhāl. Abu Hatim said: He meant: "the excusers," and the tā' is not assimilated into the 'ayn due to the distance of the articulations, and this is a mistake on his part or against him. Abu Amr said: And Sa'id ibn Jubair read: "the excusers" with an additional tā'. Al-Hasan read - with a difference from him - and Abu Amr, and Nafi' and the people: "they lied" with a light dhāl. Al-Hasan read - and this is the famous reading from him - and Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Nuh, and Ismail: "they lied" with a strong dhāl. The meaning is: They did not believe in Him, the Exalted, nor His Messenger, and they rejected His command. Then He threatened - at the end of the verse - the disbelievers with a painful punishment. It is possible that He means in this world by killing and captivity, and it is possible that He means in the Hereafter by fire.

And His saying: "Among them" means that the excusers were believers, and some prefer this interpretation, so reflect on it. Al-Tabari weakened the saying of those who said that "the excusers" is from "excusing" and leaned against it. The saying is explicit and its meaning is clear, and Allah is the Helper.

Ibn Ishaq said: "the excusers" are a group from Banu Ghifar, among them is Khifaf ibn Ima' ibn Ruhdah.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This implies that they are believers.