Meccan [except from verse 1 to verse 11, which is Medinan] and its verses are 69 [revealed after Al-Rum]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

The concept of 'hispan' cannot be correctly linked to the meanings of the individual words, but rather to the implications of the sentences. Do you not see that if you say: 'I considered Zayd and thought the horse,' it means nothing until you say: 'I considered Zayd to be knowledgeable and thought the horse to be noble,' because your saying: 'Zayd is knowledgeable' or 'the horse is noble' is a statement indicative of a meaning. You intended to inform about that meaning being established with you in a manner of assumption, not certainty. So, you found it necessary to express its establishment with you in that manner by mentioning both parts of the sentence, introducing the action of 'hispan' upon them, so that your purpose is fulfilled.

If you ask: 'Where is the statement indicative of the meaning that is implied by 'hispan' in the verse?' I say: It is in the saying 'that they be left to say, 'We have believed' while they are not tested.' The implication is: 'Do they think that their being left without being tested, due to their saying: 'We have believed' is valid?' Thus, the leaving is the first object of 'hispan,' and their saying: 'We have believed' is the news. As for 'not tested,' it is a complement to the leaving, because it is from the leaving which means making it so, as in the saying:

'I left him to the beasts of prey to devour him.' [Refer to the explanation of this evidence in the first part, page 75, if you wish, as per the corrector.]

Do you not see that before introducing 'hispan,' you can say: 'They were left not tested, due to their saying: 'We have believed,' on the assumption of being present and stable, before the 'lam.' If you say: 'That they say' is a reason for their being left not tested, how can it be valid for it to be the news of a subject? I say: Just as you say: 'His leaving was due to fear of evil,' and 'His beating was for discipline.' The discipline and fear are in your saying: 'I left due to fear of evil,' and 'I beat him for discipline': both are reasons. And you can also say:

I thought his departure was out of fear of evil, and I assumed his beating was for discipline, so you make them both objects just as you made them a subject and a predicate. And the trial is the testing by the hardships of obligation: such as leaving one's homeland, struggling against enemies, and all other difficult acts of obedience, abandoning desires and pleasures, and facing poverty and drought, as well as various calamities in lives and wealth. And by enduring the harm and plotting of the disbelievers. The meaning is: Do those who have uttered the word of testimony with their tongues and expressed their belief think that they will be left without being tested? Rather, Allah tests them with various trials, so that He may examine their patience, steadfastness, soundness of their beliefs, and clarity of their intentions, to distinguish the sincere from the insincere, the firm in faith from the wavering, and the established worshiper from the one who is on the edge, as He said: 'You will certainly be tested in your wealth and your lives, and you will certainly hear from those who were given the Scripture before you and from those who associate others with Allah much harm. But if you are patient and fear Allah, then that is of the matters requiring determination.' It has been narrated that this was revealed about some of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, who were distressed by the harm of the polytheists. It was said about Ammar ibn Yasir: He was tortured for the sake of Allah. It was said about some who embraced Islam in Mecca, and the emigrants wrote to them: 'Your Islam will not be accepted until you emigrate.' So they left, and the polytheists pursued them and turned them back. When this was revealed, they wrote to them about it, and they left again, and the polytheists pursued them and fought them. Some of them were killed, and some escaped. It was said about Mahja' ibn Abdullah, the freedman of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, who was the first martyr among the Muslims on the day of Badr. He was struck by a spear from Amir ibn al-Hadhrami. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'The chief of martyrs is Mahja', and he is the first to be called to the gate of Paradise from this nation.' [Al-Thalabi mentioned this from Muqatil, saying: 'These two verses were revealed about Mahja' ibn Abdullah, the freedman of Umar, who was the first to be killed among the Muslims on the day of Badr. He was struck by Amir ibn al-Hadhrami with an arrow and killed. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'The chief of martyrs is Mahja', and he is the first to be called to the gate of Paradise from this nation.' His chain of narration is to Muqatil at the beginning of his book, and in the Delails of Ibn Abi Shaybah from the route of al-Qasim ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, it was said: 'The first to be martyred on the day of Badr was Mahja', the freedman of Umar.' ] His parents and wife grieved for him. And indeed, We have certainly tested, connected to 'I thought' or without 'they will be tested,' like saying: 'Will so-and-so not be tested when those better than him were tested?' This means that the followers of the prophets, peace be upon them, before them, faced trials and hardships similar to what they faced, or even more severe, and they were patient, as He said: 'And how many a prophet fought alongside him many righteous ones. They did not weaken...' the verse. And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: 'There were those before you who were seized and a saw was placed on his head, splitting him into two, yet that did not turn him away from his religion. And he was combed with iron combs that removed flesh and nerves from his bones, yet that did not turn him away from his religion.' [This was narrated by al-Bukhari from the hadith of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, and it is more complete than this.] So Allah will surely make evident through the trial those who are truthful in faith and He will make evident the liars in it. If you say: How is that when He is All-Knowing of it eternally? I say: He has always known it as non-existent, and He does not know it as existent except when it exists.

I said: He has always known it as nonexistent and does not know it as existent except when it exists. Ahmad said: In what he mentioned there is an implication of a corrupt belief, which is the belief that knowledge of the existent is different from knowledge of what will be. The truth is that Allah's knowledge, glorified and exalted is He, is one and pertains to the existent at the time of its existence, before it, and after it, as it is. The benefit of mentioning knowledge here, even though it precedes the existence of the known, is to indicate the cause and the effect, which is the recompense. It is as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: 'We will certainly know them, so let Us reward them according to His knowledge of them.' And Allah knows best. The meaning is: And the truthful among them will be distinguished from the liars. It may also be a promise and a threat, as if He said: 'And He will reward those who were truthful and will punish the liars.' And it was recited by him, may Allah be pleased with him, and Al-Zuhri: 'And they will certainly know,' from the informing, meaning: 'And Allah will make the people know who they are.' Or He will mark them with a sign by which they are recognized, from the whiteness of the faces and the blackness of them, and the kohl of the eyes and their blueness.