They buy with the covenant of Allah that which they have been promised regarding faith in the Messenger who confirms what is with them, and their oaths, and by that which they swore when they said: "By Allah, we will surely believe in him and we will surely support him" for a small price, the goods of this world such as leadership and bribery and the like. It is said that this was revealed about Abu Rafi', Lubabah ibn al-Harith, and Hayy ibn Akhtab, who distorted the Torah and changed the description of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and took bribes for that. It is said: A group of Jews came to Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf during a year of famine that afflicted them. He said to them: "Do you know that this man is the Messenger of Allah?" They said: "Yes." He said: "I intended that your leader and I would clothe you, but Allah has forbidden you much good." They said: "Perhaps it is a delusion upon us, so wait until we meet him." They went and wrote a description other than his description, then returned to him and said: "We made a mistake, and he is not the description that was described to us," so he rejoiced and argued with them. And from al-Ash'ath ibn Qays: It was revealed about me. There was a dispute between me and a man regarding a well, and we disputed to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. He said: "Your witnesses or his oath." I said: "Then he will swear and not care." He said: "Whoever swears an oath by which he intends to obtain something that does not belong to him, will meet Allah while He is angry with him." [Agreed upon from his narration.] It is said: It was revealed about a man who set up a commodity in the market and swore that he had given more than he had given. The most appropriate interpretation is that it was revealed about the People of the Book. And His saying: (with the covenant of Allah) strengthens the return of the pronoun in 'his covenant' to Allah. And He does not look at them is a metaphor for disdain for them and anger towards them. You say: So-and-so does not look at so-and-so, meaning he does not regard him or do good to him, and He does not praise them nor commend them. If you say: What is the difference between its use regarding those upon whom looking is permissible and those upon whom it is not permissible? I say: Its origin regarding those upon whom looking is permissible is a metaphor, because whoever regards a person turns to him and gives him his eye's attention. Then it became common until it became an expression of regard and kindness even if there is no actual looking. Then it came to those upon whom looking is not permissible, stripped of the meaning of kindness, metaphorically referring to what was metaphorically referred to in the case of those upon whom looking is permissible. They are a group including Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, Malik ibn al-Sayf, Hayy ibn Akhtab, and others who twist their tongues with the Book, distorting it from the correct to the altered. And the people of Medina read: they twist, with emphasis, as in His saying: they twisted their heads. And from Mujahid and Ibn Kathir: they twist. The reason is that they changed the rounded waw to an alif, then softened it by omitting it and transferring its movement to the preceding consonant. If you say: To what does the pronoun in: (so that you may think it) refer? I say: It refers to what is indicated by their twisting their tongues with the Book, which is the altered one. It may also be intended: they are adding their tongues with the semblance of the Book so that you may think that semblance is from the Book. And it was read: so that they may think it with the pronoun, meaning: they do that so that the Muslims may consider it from the Book. And they say: It is from Allah, confirming His saying: it is from the Book, and an additional condemnation of them, and a record of their lies, and an indication that they do not conceal nor equivocate, but rather they explicitly state that it is in the Torah like this, and that Allah revealed it to Musa like this due to their extreme audacity against Allah, the hardness of their hearts, and their despair of the Hereafter. And from Ibn Abbas: They are the Jews who came to Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, altered the Torah, and wrote a book in which they changed the description of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, then Qurayzah took what they wrote and mixed it with the Book that they had.