Allah has made it forbidden, meaning He has forbidden its killing. The meaning is: He has forbidden killing it. And 'except by right' is related to this omitted killing.

Or, 'they do not kill,' and He negates these great evils concerning those who are described by those great qualities in religion, implying what the enemies of the believers from Quraysh and others were upon. It is as if it is said: 'And those whom Allah has freed from and purified from what you are upon.' Killing without right includes burying alive and others. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, which sin is the greatest?' He said: 'To make a partner for Allah while He created you.' I said: 'Then which?' He said: 'To kill your child for fear that he may eat with you.' I said: 'Then which?' He said: 'To commit adultery with your neighbor's wife.' [Agreed upon from the narration of Abu Wa'il from Amr ibn Sharhabil from him.] So Allah revealed His confirmation. And it was recited: 'he will receive therein a punishment.' And it was recited: 'he will be punished,' with the alif confirmed, and a similar case has been mentioned before. And 'the punishments' are the recompense of sin, in the same weight as 'the burden' and 'the punishment,' and their meanings are similar. He said:

'May Allah reward Ibn 'Urwah for what he has become ... disobedient, and disobedience has a punishment.' [Disobedience, with a fathah, means much disobedience, with a dammah, is the withholding of kindness to parents and severing ties with them. And 'the punishment,' like 'the burden,' is the recompense of sin. It is said to be the sin itself, thus named for its cause, which is the recompense, and the second object of 'rewarded' is omitted. And 'disobedience' is the subject, meaning: disobedience must have a great evil recompense.]

And it is said to be the sin. Its meaning is: he will receive the recompense of sin. And Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, read: 'days' [The saying 'days' in the authentic reports is 'the days' (of smoke).] meaning hardships. It is said: 'A day with days' refers to a difficult day. 'It will be doubled' is a substitute for 'he will receive,' because they are of one meaning, as in the saying:

'When will you come to us, gathering us in our homes ... you will find abundant firewood and a blazing fire.' [This witness has been explained in the first part, page 331, so refer to it if you wish, the corrector.]

And it was recited: 'it will be weakened,' and 'we will weaken the punishment for him,' with the pronoun and the punishment in the accusative. And it was recited in the nominative as a new statement or as a condition, and likewise 'he will abide' and it was recited: 'and he will abide,' in the passive form, lightened and heavy, from 'to abide' and 'to make eternal.' And it was recited: 'and they will abide,' with the ta on the shift. 'He will replace' is lightened and heavy, and likewise 'their evils.' If you say: What is the meaning of the doubling of the punishment and the replacing of the evils with good deeds? I say: If the polytheist commits sins along with polytheism, he is punished for both polytheism and sins altogether, thus the punishment is doubled for the doubling of what is punished. And the replacing of the evils with good deeds means that He erases them through repentance and establishes in their place good deeds: faith, obedience, and piety. And it is said: He replaces them from polytheism with faith, from killing Muslims with killing polytheists, and from adultery with chastity and marriage.