Muhammad is either a news of a subject, meaning: he is Muhammad, due to the precedence of His saying, 'He is the One who sent His Messenger,' or it is a subject, and 'the Messenger of Allah' is an appositive. And from Ibn Amer, he read: 'the Messenger of Allah,' in the accusative as an expression of praise. And 'those with him' are his companions, 'stern against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves.' 'Stern' is a plural of 'shadid' and 'merciful' is a plural of 'rahim.' And similarly, 'humble towards the believers, mighty against the disbelievers,' and 'be harsh against them.' 'With the believers, he is compassionate and merciful.' And from Al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, it reached that their strictness against the disbelievers was such that they would be cautious that their clothes would not touch the clothes of the disbelievers, and that their bodies would not touch the bodies of the disbelievers. And it reached that their compassion among themselves was such that a believer would not see another believer except that he would shake hands with him and embrace him, and the handshake is not disputed among the scholars. As for the embrace, Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, disliked it, as well as kissing. He said, 'I do not like a man to kiss the face of another man, or his hand, or any part of his body.' And Abu Yusuf permitted the embrace. It is the right of Muslims at all times to observe this strictness and this compassion: they should be strict against those who are not of their religion and faith and avoid them, and treat their brothers in Islam with compassion through kindness and connection, and to refrain from harm, and to assist, and to be patient, and to have good character. And the reason for the one who read: 'stern' and 'merciful' in the accusative is that he intends them as an expression of praise, or as a state with an implied condition in 'with him,' and he makes 'their mark' the news, 'their sign.' And it has been read as 'simaahum,' and in it are three dialects: these two, and 'simiya,' and what is meant by it is the mark that occurs on the forehead of the one who prostrates from the abundance of prostration, and His saying, 'from the trace of prostration' explains it.

From the effect that prostration has, both of the two elevated ones: Ali ibn Al-Husayn Zain Al-Abidin, and Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas, known as Dhul-Thufanat, because their frequent prostrations caused marks resembling thufanat of the camel to appear on their foreheads. It has been read: from the effect of prostration, and from the effects of prostration. Similarly, it is reported from Sa'id ibn Jubayr that it is the mark on the face. If you say: It has come from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, "Do not alter your faces". And from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he saw a man with the mark of prostration on his face and said: Your face is not yours, so do not alter your face, nor distort your appearance. I say: This occurs when one rests his forehead on the ground to create that mark. This is hypocrisy and deceit, and we seek refuge in Allah from it, while we are in what occurs on the forehead of the one who prostrates, who does so sincerely for the sake of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. Some of the early scholars said: We used to pray and nothing would be seen between our eyes, and now we see one of us praying and there is a mark like the knee of a camel between his eyes. We do not know if the heads have become heavy or the ground has become rough, and he intended this for hypocrisy. It has been said: It is the paleness of the face from the fear of Allah. And from Al-Dhahak: It is not a mark in the faces, but rather it is paleness. And from Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyib: It is the wetness of purity and the dust of the earth. And from 'Ata, may Allah have mercy on him: Their faces became illuminated from the long hours they prayed at night, as He said: "Whoever prays a lot at night, his face will be beautiful by day." This was narrated by Ibn Majah from Ismail Al-Talhi from Thabit ibn Musa from Sharik from Al-A'mash from Abu Sufyan from Jabir, raised to the Prophet, and the scholars of hadith, including Ibn 'Adi, Al-Daraqutni, Al-'Aqili, Ibn Hibban, and Al-Hakim, agreed that it is from the words of Sharik, which he said to Thabit when he entered. Ibn 'Adi said that a group of Thabit's narrations were taken by people like Abdullah ibn Shubrumah Al-Shariki and Abdul Hamid ibn Bahr and others, and the author of Musnad Al-Shihab narrated it from the narration of Abdul Razzaq from Al-Thawri and Ibn Jurayj from Abu Al-Zubair from Jabir, and it is fabricated on this chain. Similarly, from the narration of Al-Husayn ibn Hafs from Al-Thawri from Al-A'mash from Abu Sufyan from Jabir, and the matter is the same. And from other weak chains. Ibn Tahir said: Al-Qudai thought the hadith was authentic due to its many chains. He is excused because he was not a memorizer. There are other chains from other than Jabir, which Ibn Jam'i mentioned in his dictionary from the narration of Anas, and Ibn Al-Jawzi from another source from him, and it is also false from both angles. That description is their example, meaning their astonishing description in both scriptures. Then it began with: "Like a plant" meaning: they are like a plant. It has been said that the speech ended at the saying: "That is their example in the Torah," then it began with: "And their example in the Gospel is like a plant." It is permissible that this is an ambiguous reference clarified by the saying: "Like a plant that brings forth its shoots," as His saying: "And We decreed to him that the end of these people will be cut off by morning." It has been read: the Gospel, with the opening of the 'Ayn. "Its shoots" means its offspring. It is said: The plant brings forth when it produces offspring. It has been read: "shut'ah" with the opening of the 'Ayn. And "shut'ah" with the lightening of the 'Ayn. And "shut'ah" with the elongation. And "shut'ah" with the omission of the 'Ayn and transferring its movement to the preceding letter. And "shut'uh" with the turning of it into a Waw. "Then He strengthened it" from the support, which is assistance. And from Al-Akhfash: it is an 'Afa'al. And it has been read: "Then He strengthened it" with lightening and heavy pronunciation, meaning: He strengthened its support and made it strong. And whoever considers "Azer" as 'Afa'al, he is in the meaning of both readings. "Then it thickened" so it became from thinness to thickness. "Then it stood firm on its stalks" meaning it became upright on its stems, which is the plural of stalk.

It is said: It is written in the Gospel that a people will emerge who will grow like crops. They will enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And from 'Ikrimah: He brought forth its shoots with Abu Bakr, then he supported it with Umar, then it grew strong with Uthman, and it stood firm with Ali. This is a parable that Allah struck for the beginning of the matter of Islam and its advancement in increase until it became strong and firm, because the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, stood alone. Then Allah strengthened him with those who believed with him, just as the initial strength of the crops is supported by what grows from them until the farmers are amazed. If you say: His saying 'to provoke the disbelievers with them' is a reason for why? I say: It is due to what is indicated by the comparison of them to crops in their growth and advancement in increase and strength. It is also permissible to relate it to Allah's promise to those who believe, because when the disbelievers hear what has been prepared for them in the Hereafter along with what honors them in this world, that provokes them. And the meaning of 'from them' is clear, as His saying, glorified and exalted is He, 'So avoid the abomination of idols.'

From the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Whoever recites Surah Al-Fath, it is as if he was among those who witnessed with Muhammad the conquest of Mecca.' [Narrated by Ibn Mardawayh and Al-Wahidi with a chain to Abu Ibn Kab.]