If you say: What is the meaning of His saying, 'Then We caused to inherit the Book'? I say: There are two aspects to it. One of them is: We revealed to you the Qur'an, then We decreed its inheritance after you, meaning We commanded its inheritance. Or it is said: We inherited it, while He intends to say: We will inherit it, due to the reports of Allah about those whom We have chosen from among His servants, and they are His nation from the companions and the followers and those who follow them until the Day of Resurrection. Because Allah chose them over all other nations and made them a middle nation to be witnesses over the people. He honored them with the distinction of belonging to the best of Allah's messengers and carrying the Book, which is the best of Allah's books. Then He divided them into three categories: the wrongdoer to himself, who is the one who delays the command of Allah; the moderate, who is the one who mixed good deeds with bad ones; and the one who is foremost among the foremost. The second aspect is that He sent a messenger in every nation, and they denied their messengers, although they came to them with clear signs, scriptures, and the illuminating Book. Then He said: Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah, and He praised those who recite His books and act by His laws among the deniers of it from all nations. He interjected with His saying: 'And what We revealed to you from the Book is the truth.' Then He said: 'Then We caused to inherit the Book those whom We have chosen from among Our servants,' meaning after those mentioned, intending by the chosen ones from His servants: the people of the Hanif faith. If you say: How is it that the Gardens of Eden were made a substitute for the great favor? [Mahamud said: 'By the chosen ones, He means the nation of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, then the verse divided them into the wrongdoer to himself, who is the one who delays the command of Allah; and the moderate, who is the one who mixed good deeds with bad ones; and the foremost. Then he said to Zamakhshari: If you say:

How did He make the gardens a substitute for the great favor? This is in the continuation of the verse in His saying, "And among them is one who races in good deeds by the permission of Allah. That is the great favor: gardens of Eden, they will enter them." I said: Because the reference to the favor is to the racing in good deeds, which is the cause of the gardens and the attainment of reward. So He placed the cause in place of the effect. In the specification of the racers by mentioning their reward without the others, there is a reason for caution. So let the moderate be cautious, and let the wrongdoer to himself be cautious, and both of them should turn to sincere repentance. And let them not be deceived by what Umar may Allah be pleased with him narrated from the Prophet blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "Our racers are the racers, our moderates are saved, and our wrongdoers are forgiven." For the condition of that is the validity of repentance, so let him not deceive himself with tricks. Ahmad said: This verse began by mentioning the chosen ones from the servants of Allah, then He divided them into the wrongdoer, the moderate, and the racer, to necessitate the inclusion of the wrongdoer among the monotheists in the chosen ones, and that he is one of them. And what greater and more complete blessing is there than His choosing for monotheism and the beliefs free from innovations? So why does the author elaborate on equating the chosen monotheist with the audacious disbeliever? And His saying, "gardens of Eden, they will enter them," the pronoun in it refers generally to the chosen ones, and the gardens are their reward for their monotheism altogether. Its grammatical structure is: "gardens" is the subject, and "they will enter them" is the predicate. And His saying, "They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their garments therein will be silk..." to the end of the verse: it is news after news, and news upon news, and Allah is the Helper. What is the racing in good deeds referred to by that? I said: Since the cause of attaining the reward is placed in the position of the effect, as if it is the reward, gardens of Eden were substituted for it. And in the specification of the racers after the division by mentioning their reward and remaining silent about the others, there is what necessitates caution. So let the moderate be cautious, and let the wrongdoer to himself be cautious, and both of them should turn to sincere repentance, free from the punishment of Allah, and let them not be deceived by what Umar may Allah be pleased with him narrated from the Messenger of Allah blessings and peace be upon him: "Our racers are the racers, our moderates are saved, and our wrongdoers are forgiven." [This was narrated by Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu'ab from the narration of Maymoon ibn Siyah from Umar may Allah be pleased with him, raised. This is disconnected, and it was narrated by Al-Thalabi and Ibn Mardawayh from another chain from Maymoon ibn Siyah from Abu Othman Al-Hudhay from Umar. In it is Al-Fadl ibn Umairah: he is weak. And it was narrated by Sa'id ibn Mansur from Faraj ibn Fadalah from Azhar ibn Abdullah Al-Harazi from whom he heard Umar mention it as a stopping narration.] For the condition of that is the validity of repentance. [The saying, "For the condition of that is the validity of repentance," is according to the Mu'tazila. As for the Ahl al-Sunnah, they permit forgiveness merely by virtue.] For Allah, the Exalted, said, "It is hoped that Allah will accept their repentance," and His saying, "Either He punishes them or He accepts their repentance." And indeed, the Quran has stated this in many places; whoever reads them will understand the reality of the matter and not deceive himself with tricks. And it was read as "racing." And the meaning of "by the permission of Allah" is by His facilitation and success. If you say: Why was the wrongdoer mentioned first, then the moderate, then the racer? I said: To indicate the prevalence of the sinners and their predominance, and that the moderates are few in comparison to them, and the racers are fewer than few. And it was read: "Garden of Eden" in the singular, as if it is a garden specific to the racers. And "gardens of Eden" is in the accusative case due to an implied verb that is clarified by the apparent meaning, i.e., they will enter gardens of Eden, they will enter them, and they will enter them, in the passive construction. And "they will be adorned" is from "I adorned" (حليت): the woman, so it is a state, and "and pearls" is conjoined to "bracelets of gold," and "from" is for partitive, i.e., they will be adorned with some bracelets of gold, as if it is some of the previous ones to the rest of the parts, as the adorned ones surpassed others. And it is said that this gold is in the clarity of the pearls. And it was read: "and pearls" with the first hamzah softened, and it was read: "the sorrow," and the intended meaning is the sorrow of the pious, which is what concerns them from the fear of a bad outcome, as His saying, "Indeed, we were before among our people, apprehensive." So Allah bestowed upon us and protected us from the punishment of the scorching wind. And from Ibn Abbas may Allah be pleased with both of them: the sorrow of the aversion and the afflictions. And from him: the sorrow of death.

And from Al-Duhak: The sadness of Iblis and his whispering. It was said: The concern of livelihood. It was said: The sadness of the loss of blessings. They have elaborated on this until some of them said: The rent of the house, and its meaning is that it encompasses every sadness from the sorrows of religion and the world, even this. And from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "There is no loneliness for the people of La ilaha illallah in their graves, nor in their gathering, nor in their journey. And I see the people of La ilaha illallah coming out of their graves while shaking the dust off their heads and saying: Praise be to Allah who has removed sadness from us." [Reported by Abu Ya'la, Ibn Abi Hatim, Al-Bayhaqi in the beginning of Al-Shu'ab, and Al-Tabarani in Al-Awsat from the hadith of Ibn Umar. In it is Abdul Rahman bin Zaid bin Aslam, who is weak, and there is another route with Al-Tabarani and Al-Nasa'i in Al-Kuna from Ibn Umar. Another one with Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu'ab. And there is a narration from Ibn Abbas reported by Tamam in his benefits and Al-Khatib in the biography of Muhammad bin Said Al-Ta'ifi, and from Anas in Ibn Mardawayh.]" And Al-Shakur mentioned: A sign that the people are many and the good deeds are abundant. Al-Qama: Meaning residence. It is said: I established a residence and a place, from His grace and His bounty, from their saying: So-and-so has excess over his people and virtues. And it is not from the virtue that is to bestow, because the reward is like the deserved wage, and the bestowal is like a donation. And it was read: Laghub, with the opening: It is the name of what is derived from laghub, meaning: We do not undertake an action that burdens us; or a source like acceptance and mingling, or an adjective for the source, as if it is ["as if" perhaps: as if he said. (A)] laghub laghub, like saying: the death of a dying person. If you ask: What is the difference between nasb and laghub? I say: Nasb is the fatigue and hardship that befalls the one who stands for the matter he is engaged in. As for laghub, it is what befalls him of fatigue due to nasb. So, nasb is the hardship and cost itself. And laghub is its result and what occurs from it of weariness and slackness.