And We divided them in the land into nations and differentiated them therein. Hardly a country is devoid of a faction of them. Among them are the righteous who believed among them in the city, or those beyond China, and among them are those below that description who are degraded from it, and they are the disbelievers and the wicked. If you say: What is the meaning of 'below that'? I say: It is a raised status, which is an attribute of an omitted described, meaning: And among them are people degraded from righteousness, and similar to this is: And there is none of us except that he has a known position, meaning: And there is no one among us except that he has a position. And We tested them with good deeds and bad deeds, with blessings and calamities, so that perhaps they would stop and return. Then there came after the mentioned ones a generation, and they are those who were in the time of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, who inherited the Book, the Torah, which remained in their hands after their predecessors. They read it and reflect on what is in it of commands and prohibitions, and they do not act upon it. They take the gains of this lower thing, meaning the worldly possessions and what they enjoy from it. In the saying 'this lower' there is a belittlement and degradation. The lower is either from 'danu' meaning closeness, because it is immediate and near, or from the degradation of the state and its diminishment. The intended meaning is what they used to take from bribes in judgments by distorting the words to make it easier for the common people. And they say: We will be forgiven; Allah will not hold us accountable for what we have taken. The subject of 'will be forgiven' is the prepositional phrase, which is 'for us', and it is permissible that it is the taking which is the source of 'they take'. And if a similar gain comes to them, they will take it. The 'and' is for the present, meaning they hope for forgiveness while they are persistent, returning to similar actions, not repenting. And the forgiveness of sins is not valid except with repentance, and the persistent one has no forgiveness. Did they not take a covenant upon them in the Book? Meaning His saying in the Torah: Whoever commits a great sin, he will not be forgiven except with repentance. And they studied what is in the Book about the condition of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And what the compellers hold is the same as the opinion of the Jews, as you see. And from Malik ibn Dinar, may Allah have mercy on him, he said: A time will come upon the people when, if they fall short of what they were commanded, they will say: We will be forgiven, for we have not associated anything with Allah. Their entire affair is based on hope, and their best among them is the one who flatters. These are from this nation similar to those mentioned by Allah, and he recited the verse. And the Hereafter is better than this despicable gain for those who fear the bribes and the prohibitions of Allah. And it has been read: 'They inherited the Book.' And do not say, with the 'taa'. And 'they studied', meaning they studied together. And 'Do you not understand?' with the 'yaa' and the 'taa'. If you say: What is the position of His saying: 'That they do not say about Allah except the truth'? I say: It is an explanatory conjunction for the covenant of the Book. And the meaning of the covenant of the Book is the covenant mentioned in the Book. And in it, the establishment of forgiveness without repentance is a departure from the covenant of the Book and a fabrication against Allah. And they have attributed to Him what is not true. And if the covenant of the Book is interpreted as previously mentioned, then 'that they do not say' is an object for it. And its meaning is: So that they do not say. And it is permissible that 'if' is explanatory, and 'do not say' is a prohibition, as if it were said: Did He not say to them: Do not say about Allah except the truth? If you say: What is the conjunction of His saying: 'And they studied what is in it'? I say: It is connected to 'Did they not take upon them' because it is an affirmation, as if it were said: A covenant was taken upon them in the Book and they studied what is in it.