And they sought victory and asked Allah for help against their enemies. If you seek victory, then victory has certainly come to you. Or they sought Allah's judgment among them from the opening, which is governance, as His saying, 'Our Lord, judge between us and our people in truth.' This is connected to 'So He revealed to them.' It is read: 'And they sought victory,' in the imperative form. And it is connected to 'We will surely destroy.' That is: their Lord revealed to them and said to them, 'We will surely destroy,' and He said to them, 'Seek victory.' And every tyrant who is obstinate has failed, meaning they were aided, triumphed, and succeeded. And every tyrant who is obstinate, they are their people. It is said: The disbelievers sought victory over the messengers, thinking that they were upon the truth and the messengers were upon falsehood. And every tyrant who is obstinate among them has failed and did not succeed in seeking victory from behind him or from before him. He said: 'Perhaps the distress in which you are this evening will have behind it a near relief.' [The distress of Abu Namir troubles me... For my heart is gloomy from its gloominess. So I said to him, 'May Allah guide you, be patient... And the best saying is that of the wise and correct. Perhaps the distress in which you are this evening will have behind it a near relief.' This is by Hudabah ibn Khashram al-Athari. It is narrated: Khashram. He was imprisoned for murder. And 'ta'riq' means staying awake, and 'al-iktiaab' means breaking down and changing color from sadness, and 'al-kabaa' is likewise. And Abu Namir was a friend of his, so he visited him in prison and was saddened for him. And 'be patient' is a source instead of the word by its action. And 'the best saying' is an interjection in the midst of the saying. And 'al-lab' means intellect. And 'perhaps the distress' is a continuation of the saying. It is narrated: 'You are this evening,' with a damma and a fatha. And Al-Jawhari said, 'Behind' comes with the meaning of 'in front of,' and it can come with the meaning of 'behind,' so it is from opposites. For what is behind a person is his body from himself or from others, and concealing it from oneself can only be in the back, hence it is more common there. Or it is a place of concealment in general, and it is more in the back. And the subject 'will be' refers to the distress, and 'behind it' is related to an omitted predicate for 'to be,' and 'relief' is the subject in the context. It is permissible that 'relief' is the subject and 'behind it' is related to an omitted predicate for it, and the sentence is a predicate for 'to be.' The omitted must be a complete predicate and not a deficient one, so that it does not require the estimation of another omitted, leading to a chain of estimation. And 'relief' is not made nominative by 'to be,' because the predicate of the verbs of approximation does not raise the foreign subject from its names. And the sentence 'will be' is a predicate for 'is not,' and the stripping of its predicate from 'that' is rare, meaning perhaps relief will occur after distress.] And this describes his state while he is in this world, for he is observed for Hellfire, as if it is before him while he is on its brink, or it describes his state in the Hereafter when he is resurrected and made to stand. If you say: 'What is the reason for the connection of 'and they will be given to drink'?

It is understood as: behind him is Hell, into which he will be thrown and given to drink from water of pus. This is as if it is the most severe of its punishment, so it is specified in mention along with His saying: "And death will come to him from every place, and he is not going to die." If you say: What is the meaning of His saying: "from water of pus?" I say: Pus is an explanatory apposition to water. He said: "And he will be given to drink from water," so he made it vague, then clarified it with the word "pus," which is what flows from the skins of the people of the Fire. He will sip it, forcing himself to drink it, and he can hardly swallow it. The word 'can' here indicates emphasis. It means: and he is not close to being able to swallow it. So how can swallowing occur? Like His saying: "He hardly saw it," meaning he was not close to seeing it, so how can he see it? "And death will come to him from every place" as if all the causes and types of death have gathered against him and surrounded him from all sides, intensifying the pain that befalls him. It is said: "from every place" of his body, even from the tip of his toe. It is also said: from the root of every hair. And from behind him and in front of him is a severe punishment, meaning at every moment he faces a punishment that is harsher than the one before and more severe. Al-Fudail said: It is the cutting off of breaths and their confinement in the bodies. It is possible that the people of Mecca had sought to open (the heavens for rain) – that is, they prayed for rain – during the years of drought that were sent upon them by the supplication of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, but they were not given rain. So Allah mentioned that, and that He disappointed the hopes of every tyrant and obstinate one, and that he will be given to drink in Hell instead of being given another water, which is the pus of the people of the Fire. "And they sought to open (the heavens for rain)" – according to this interpretation – is a statement that is a new subject, disconnected from the discourse about the messengers and their nations.