His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And among the Bedouins are some who take what they spend as a burden and wait for calamities to befall you. Upon them will be the circle of evil. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing﴾

﴿And among the Bedouins are some who believe in Allah and the Last Day and take what they spend as closeness to Allah and the prayers of the Messenger. Indeed, it is a closeness for them. Allah will admit them into His mercy. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful﴾

This is a text about the hypocrites among them. The meaning of "takes" in these verses is: he makes it his intention and does not intend anything else in it. The origin of "burden" is debt, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, sought refuge from burden and sin. However, the use of "burden" has become common for what a person performs that is not obligatory upon him by right. In the wording, there is a meaning of necessity. From this is His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, its punishment was a burden﴾ [Al-Furqan: 65], meaning: a disliked necessity. And "calamities" are the misfortunes from which a person cannot escape. They surround him as a circle surrounds. It may be possible that it is derived from the cycle of time, and the meaning is: he waits for what the days bring and what they turn upon him. Then he said regarding the supplication: ﴿Upon them will be the circle of evil﴾. And everything that is in the wording of supplication from Allah, exalted and majestic is He, is in the meaning of the obligation of something. For Allah does not call upon His creations while they are in His grasp. From this is His saying, glorified is He: ﴿Woe to every slanderer and backbiter﴾ [Al-Humazah: 1], ﴿Woe to those who give less﴾ [Al-Mutaffifin: 1]. So all of these are complete rulings contained in His news, exalted and majestic is He. The majority of the reciters from the seven and others read: "the circle of evil" with the opening of the 'sīn'. Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Ibn Muhaisin, and Asim, and Al-Amash read differently from them: "the circle of evil" with the 'sīn' being pronounced as a 'ḍamma'. There was a difference reported from Ibn Kathir, and it was said: the opening is the source and the 'ḍamma' is the noun. And the people differed in them, and it is a difference that is close to one another. The opening of the 'sīn' implies describing the circle as being bad. Abu Ali said: the meaning of "the circle" implies the meaning of "evil"; it is merely an addition of clarification and emphasis, as they say: "the sun of the day" and "the beard of his head".

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it is not said: "a man of evil" except with the opening of the 'sīn'. This is the saying of most of them. It has been reported: "a man of evil" with the 'sīn' being pronounced as a 'ḍamma'. The poet said:

And I was like the wolf of evil when he saw blood ∗∗∗ with his companion one day turned to blood.

And the reciters did not differ in the opening of the 'sīn' from His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Your father was not a man of evil﴾ [Maryam: 28].

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And among the Bedouins are some who believe in Allah﴾, Qatadah said: (This is the praise of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, regarding the Bedouins). And "takes" in this verse also means: makes it a goal. The meaning is: he intends by his spending in the way of Allah to seek closeness to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and to seek the intercession of the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. In his supplication for them is the good of the Hereafter in salvation from the Fire, and the good of this world in their provisions and the gifts of Allah to them. So, "prayers" - on this - is an addition to "acts of closeness," and it is possible that it is an addition to "what he spends," meaning: and he takes the good deeds as a means of closeness through the prayers of the Messenger. The first is clearer.

And "acts of closeness" is the plural of "act of closeness" or "act of nearness" with the ra' being silent or pronounced, and both are dialects. And the prayer in this verse is, by consensus, supplication. Some scholars said: the prayer from Allah is mercy, and from the Prophet and the angels is supplication, and from the people is worship. The pronoun in His saying: "Indeed, it" may refer back to the spending, and this is in the addition of "prayers" to "acts of closeness." It may also refer back to the prayers, and this is in its addition to "what he spends." Nafi' read: "act of closeness" with the ra' pronounced, and there was disagreement about him and about Asim and Al-Amash. The others read: "act of closeness" with the ra' silent, and there was no disagreement in "acts of closeness." Then Allah, blessed and exalted, promised with His saying: ﴿Allah will admit them into His mercy﴾. It has been narrated that this verse was revealed regarding Banu Muqarrin from Muzaynah, and this was said by Mujahid. Al-Tabari narrated from Abdur-Rahman ibn Mughaffal ibn Muqarrin that he said: We were ten sons of Muqarrin, and this verse was revealed about us: ﴿And among the Bedouins are some who believe in Allah﴾ to the end of the verse.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And His saying: "ten sons of Muqarrin" refers to the six sons of Muqarrin from his loins or the seven according to what is in Al-Isti'ab from the saying of Suwayd ibn Muqarrin, and their sons because this is what is in the well-known records of the people of knowledge.