The address is to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and to those with him. And 'among you' is for clarification, like that which is at the end of Surah Al-Fath: Allah promised them that He would support Islam over disbelief, and He would make them inheritors of the land, and He would make them successors in it, just as He did with the Children of Israel, when He made them inherit Egypt and the Levant after the destruction of the tyrants, and that He would establish the chosen religion, which is the religion of Islam. Establishing it means affirming and strengthening it, and that He would secure their path and remove from them the fear that they were upon. This is because the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and his companions remained in Mecca for ten years in fear, and when they migrated, they would wake up in Medina armed and go to sleep in arms. Until a man said: 'When will a day come upon us when we will be safe and lay down our arms?' He, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'You will not be changed except for a little.' Until a man among you sits in the great assembly, wrapped up and without a weapon. Allah fulfilled His promise and made them prevail over the Arabian Peninsula, and they opened after that the lands of the East and the West, and they tore apart the kingdom of the Chosroes and took their treasures, and they dominated the world. Then those who opposed their path emerged and disbelieved in those blessings and committed sins. This is the saying of him, blessings and peace be upon him: 'The caliphate after me will be thirty years, then Allah will give kingship to whom He wills, and it will become a kingship, then it will become [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN:baziz] : a cutting of paths, shedding of blood, and taking wealth without its right.' It has not been found. The beginning is in the Sunnah, Ibn Majah, Al-Hakim, Ahmad, Al-Tabarani, Al-Bayhaqi, and Al-Thalabi, all from the hadith of Safina: 'The caliphate in my nation will be thirty years, then kingship will follow kingship.' In one narration: 'Then Allah will give kingship to whom He wills.' Ahmad and Ibn Abi Shaybah and Al-Tabarani narrated from the path of Abdul Rahman ibn Sabit from Abu Thalabah from Abu Ubaidah and Muadh ibn Jabal, raised: 'Indeed, Allah began this matter with Prophethood, then it will become a caliphate... the hadith.' And it was read: as He made successors, in the passive form, and He will surely replace them: with emphasis. If you say: Where is the oath that is met with the 'lam' and 'noon' in 'لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ'? I say: It is omitted, its meaning is: Allah promised them, and I swear He will surely make them successors. Or the promise of Allah in its realization is treated as an oath, so it is received as an oath is received, as if it were said: Allah swears He will surely make them successors. If you say: What is the position of 'يَعْبُدُونَنِي'? I say: If you consider it an independent statement, it has no position, as if someone said: What do they have to do with being made successors and believing? He said: 'They will worship Me.' And if you consider it a condition of His promise, meaning Allah promised them that in the state of their worship and sincerity, its position is accusative. And 'whoever disbelieves' means the denial of blessings: like His saying: 'فَكَفَرَتْ بِأَنْعُمِ اللَّهِ.' 'Indeed, they are the disobedient' means: they are complete in their disobedience, as they disbelieved in that great blessing and dared to despise it. If you say: Is there in this verse evidence for the matter of the rightly guided caliphs? I say: It is the clearest evidence and the most evident, for the successors who believed and did righteous deeds are indeed they.