Commentary
Al-Hasan read: 'They kill the prophets.' Hamzah read: 'And they fight those who command.' Abdullah read: 'And they fought.' And Ubayy read: 'They kill the prophets and those who command.' And they are the People of the Book. Their forefathers killed the prophets and killed their followers, and they were pleased with what they did. They were around killing the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the believers, if it were not for the protection of Allah. And from Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah: I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, which people will have the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection?' He said: 'A man who killed a prophet or a man who commanded what is right and forbade what is wrong.' Then he recited it and said: 'O Abu Ubaidah, the Children of Israel killed forty-three prophets from the beginning of the day in one hour. Then one hundred and twelve men from the worshippers of the Children of Israel commanded them to do what is right and forbade them from what is wrong, and they were all killed by the end of the day.' [Narrated by al-Bazzar, al-Tabarani, Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Thalabi, and al-Baghawi from his narration, and in it is Abu al-Hasan, the freed slave of Banu Asad, who is unknown.] In this world and the Hereafter, for they have the curse and disgrace in this world and punishment in the Hereafter. If you say: Why is there a 'fa' (and) in the news of 'In'? I say: To imply its subject with the meaning of recompense, as if it were said: 'Those who disbelieve, so give them good tidings' meaning 'whoever disbelieves, so give them good tidings.' And 'In' does not change the meaning of the beginning, so the entrance of it is like the entrance of 'fa.' If 'let' or 'perhaps' were in its place, it would be prohibited to insert 'fa' due to the change in the meaning of the beginning.
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