When he said, "They only pledge allegiance to Allah," he emphasized it in a way of imagery. [Mahamud said: "When he said they only pledge allegiance to Allah, he emphasized it in a way of imagery... etc."] Ahmad said: "A good statement after omitting the word imagery and replacing it with representation, and similar examples have preceded." He said, "The hand of Allah is above their hands," meaning that the hand of the Messenger of Allah that is above the hands of the pledgers is the hand of Allah. And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is free from limbs and the attributes of bodies. The meaning is merely to affirm that the covenant with the Messenger is like the covenant with Allah without any difference between them, as His saying, "Whoever obeys the Messenger has certainly obeyed Allah." The intended meaning is the pledge of Ridwan. For indeed, he who breaks his pledge only harms himself, and the harm of his breaking will return only to him. Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "We pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah under the tree for death and that we would not flee. No one among us broke the pledge except Jad ibn Qais, who was a hypocrite. He hid under the armpit of his camel and did not proceed with the people." [I did not find it like this, but in the narration of Jabir, "He was asked how many they were on the day of Hudaybiyyah? He said: We were fourteen hundred, and we pledged allegiance to him while Umar was holding his hand under the tree. It was a Samurah tree. We pledged allegiance to him. Jad ibn Qais hid under the belly of his camel." It was narrated by Muslim. And from Abu Ya'la from this source, "We did not pledge allegiance for death, but rather we pledged allegiance that we would not flee. We all pledged allegiance except for Jad ibn Qais, who hid under the belly of his camel." This does not indicate that he pledged and broke it, but rather that he did not pledge at all.] And it was recited: "They only pledge allegiance for the sake of Allah," meaning: for Allah and His face. And it was recited: "He breaks" with a damma on the kaf and with a kasra, and with what he covenanted and the covenant, "He will give him" with a nun and a ya. It is said: "I fulfilled the covenant" and "I was fulfilled by it," and it is a language of Tihamah. Among them is His saying, "Fulfill the contracts," and "Those who fulfill their covenant."