When the Children of Israel settled in Egypt after the destruction of Pharaoh, Allah commanded them to march to Jericho, the land of Levant, which was inhabited by the mighty Canaanites. He said to them: "Indeed, I have written it for you as a dwelling place. So go forth to it and strive against those in it, and indeed, I will support you." And He commanded Musa, peace be upon him, to take a leader from each tribe to be responsible for his people in fulfilling what they were commanded, to ensure it upon them. The leaders were chosen and the covenant was taken from the Children of Israel, and the leaders guaranteed it for them and set out with them. When they approached the land of Canaan, the leaders were sent to spy. They saw great bodies and strength and power, so they feared and returned, telling their people, although Musa, peace be upon him, had forbidden them to inform them. They broke the covenant, except for Kalb ibn Yufna from the tribe of Judah and Yusha ibn Nun from the tribe of Ephraim, son of Yusuf. They were among the leaders.

And the leader is one who investigates the conditions of the people and searches for them, as he is called 'Areef' because he learns about them. "Indeed, I am with you," means I will support you and assist you. "You supported them" means you helped them and prevented them from the hands of the enemy. From it comes 'ta'zeer,' which is punishment and prevention from repeating corruption. It is also read with a lighter form, and it is said: "I ta'zeered the man" if I protected him and surrounded him. Ta'zeer and ta'zeer come from the same root. From it: "I will certainly support you with a strong support." It is said that it means: "And indeed, we took their covenant with faith and monotheism, and we appointed from them twelve kings to establish justice among them, to command them with good and to forbid them from evil." The 'lam' in "If you establish" is a particle for swearing, and in "I will certainly forgive" is a response to it. This response serves as a substitute for both the response to the oath and the condition after that confirmed condition that is tied to the great promise.

If you say: "Whoever disbelieved before that has also gone astray from the straight path," I say: Yes, but the misguidance after it is more apparent and greater, because disbelief becomes more grievous due to the greatness of the ungrateful blessing. When the blessing increases, the ugliness of disbelief increases and persists. "We have cursed them," means we expelled them and removed them from our mercy. It is said: "We transformed them." It is said: "We imposed upon them the jizyah." "And We made their hearts hard" means we abandoned them and deprived them of kindness until their hearts became hard. Or we gave them respite and did not hasten them with punishment until they became hard. Abdullah read it as "Qasiyah," meaning bad and mixed, from their saying: "A Qasiy dirham," which is from hardness because pure gold and silver have softness, while the mixed ones have dryness and hardness. The hard and the harsh are both related in indicating dryness and hardness. It is also read: "Qasiyah," with a broken 'qaf' for following. "They distort the words" is a statement of the hardness of their hearts, for there is no hardness greater than slandering Allah and changing His revelation. "And they forgot a portion" means they left a great share and a sufficient portion of what they were reminded of from the Torah, meaning that their neglect and turning away from the Torah is a neglect of a great share, or their hearts became hard and corrupted, so they distorted the Torah and some of its things were lost from their preservation.

And from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him: "A person may forget some knowledge due to sin." [This was narrated by Ibn al-Mubarak in 'Al-Zuhd.' He said: 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mas'udi informed us from al-Qasim from Abdullah who said: "I think a man forgets the knowledge he learned due to a sin he commits." This is an interrupted narration, and it was also narrated by al-Darimi and al-Tabarani.] And he recited this verse. It is said they left a share for themselves of what they were commanded to believe in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and to clarify his description. "And you will continue to be aware" means this is their habit and their tradition. Their ancestors used to betray the messengers, and these betray you, breaking your covenants and siding with the polytheists against you, and they intend to harm you and to accuse you of betrayal, or of an act of betrayal, or of a self, or a treacherous group. It is said: "A treacherous man," like their saying: "A man who is a reciter of poetry" for emphasis. He said: "You have spoken to yourself of loyalty, and you were not... a traitor to betrayal, misleading the finger." [If you had seen my knights... in two lines beside the edge of the cliff. You spoke to yourself of loyalty, and you were not... a traitor to betrayal, misleading the finger.]}

For Al-Kalabi, he addresses a guest who has come to him and has desired his maid. The hamzah is for calling out, and 'Amaytain' is the name of two mountains. And 'Salfa' is the name of a place. That is, O Qarin, if you had seen my knights extending between these two mountains to the sides of Salfa, you would have reminded yourself of fulfilling the covenant out of fear of me, as is required of you, and not for the sake of the enemy. Or you would not have been made for treachery, being treacherous, although it is news after news, meaning one who is much treacherous, so the ta is for exaggeration, as in the narration. And perhaps he had pointed to the maid with his finger, so the act of pointing with it was named treachery, misleading him. And it is narrated as 'ghal al-asba' with a ghain, and 'ghal' and 'aghal' if he steals something trivial, as if he made his finger a thief, meaning a thief, by pointing with it. And it was read on 'betrayal from them except for a few of them,' and they are those who believed among them. 'So pardon them' was sent down regarding their opposition. And it is said that it is abrogated by the verse of the sword. And it is said: pardon their believers and do not hold them accountable for what has passed from them.