When He covers you. This is a second substitution for when He promises you, or it is an accusative governed by victory, or by what is in [the meaning of] the action from Allah, or by what Allah has made, or by implying 'remember.' And it has been recited: 'He covers you' with lightening and heavyening. [Mahamud said: 'And it has been recited: When He covers you with lightening, with lightening and heavyening... etc.' Ahmad said: 'And this view applies to the saying of Allah, the Exalted: He is the One who shows you the lightning, in fear and in hope, because the doer of the will is Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and the doers of fear and hope are they, and they have been established as objects for both. The response is that when Allah, the Exalted, shows them the lightning, they see it; they are doers in meaning, and the meaning is: He is the One who shows you the lightning so that you see it in fear and in hope. This is similar to the verse in Al-Anfal, for the object in meaning is a doer. Further discussion on this point will come. The pen has been quickened to mention it here, and it is that one might say: The doer of covering them with drowsiness is Allah, the Exalted, and He is also the doer of safety and its creator. Then the doer of the action and the cause become one, and the question is lifted and the confusion is removed according to the principles of the Sunnah that require attributing the actions of creation to Allah, the Exalted, as He is their creator and originator. And for the purpose of the question, it is said that it is considered that the doer of the action must be characterized by the cause just as he is characterized by the action, and the Creator, the Mighty and Majestic. If the servant is the creator of safety and is safe by it, then the servant is the linguistic doer, and if Allah, the Exalted, is the true and doctrinal doer, then the question requires the previous answer, and Allah is the grantor of success.] And the drowsiness is appointed, and the pronoun refers to Allah, the Exalted. And safety is an object for it. If you say: Shouldn't the doer of the action that is conditioned and the cause be one? I say: Yes, but since the meaning of 'He covers you with drowsiness' is 'You become drowsy,' safety is appointed as the drowsiness and safety belongs to them. The meaning is: When you become drowsy, it is safety, meaning for your safety, and from it is a description for it: that is, safety that is granted to you by Allah, the Exalted. If you say: Then according to this reading [he returned to his words. He said: If you say according to this reading, I say likewise... etc.], Ahmad said: A good point provided there is decorum in omitting the word 'imagining,' and he has previously mentioned similar cases.] I say: It is permissible for safety to mean faith, meaning He makes you drowsy with faith from Him. Or it is on 'He covers you with drowsiness' so that you become drowsy in safety. If you say: Is it permissible for it to be appointed that safety is for the drowsiness which is the doer of 'He covers you'? That is, 'He covers you with drowsiness for its safety,' on the basis that attributing safety to drowsiness is a metaphorical attribution, and it is for the possessors of drowsiness in reality, or that He made you sleep at a time when it was right for drowsiness in such a fearful time not to approach you? And rather, He covered you with safety granted by Allah, without which He would not have covered you, according to the method of representation and imagination? I say: The eloquence of the Quran is not far from its possibility, and it has parallels in it, and he has touched upon it who said: 'Sleep fears to cover eyes... that fear you, so it is a fleeing and straying.' [This is from Al-Zamakhshari, who says: Sleep does not dare to invade eyes that fear you, for sleep is often fleeing and straying, likening it to an animal that is fearful in a metaphorical manner. And his saying 'so it is fleeing and straying': is a branching from the metaphor. And the attribution of fear to the eyes is a mental metaphor.] And it has been recited 'safety' with the consonant of the letter 'm' being silent. And a similar form of 'safety' is 'life' and similar to 'safety' is 'mercy.' And the meaning is that what was with them from fear prevented them from sleep. So when Allah calmed their hearts and granted them safety, they slept. And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: Drowsiness in battle is safety from Allah, and in prayer, it is whispering from the devil. [I did not find this from Ibn Abbas. It seems that it has been misattributed, and it is rather from Ibn Mas'ud. This is what Al-Thalabi mentioned. And it has been narrated by Abdul Razzaq and Al-Tabari. Likewise, Ibn Abi Shaybah and Al-Tabarani, all from the narration of Ibn Mas'ud, as a report.] And 'He sends down' has been recited with lightening and heavyening. And Al-Shabi recited: 'What He purifies you with.' Ibn Jinni said:

What is connected is connected by the preposition with what it has drawn. It is as if he said: What is for purification. And the filth of the devil and his whispering to them, and his frightening them of thirst. It was said: It is major impurity, because it is from his deception. And it was recited: The filth of the devil.

This is because Iblis appeared to them, and the polytheists had preceded them to the water. The Muslims descended into a sandy hill where the feet would sink without water, and they slept, and most of them had wet dreams. He said to them: O companions of Muhammad, you claim that you are upon the truth and that you pray without ablution and in a state of major impurity, while you are thirsty. If you were upon the truth, these people would not have overpowered you for the water, and they are not waiting for you except to exhaust you with thirst. When thirst cuts your necks, they will come to you and kill whom they wish and take the rest of you to Mecca. So they were greatly saddened and fearful. Then Allah, the Exalted, sent down rain, and it rained at night until the valley flowed. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and his companions made troughs on the edge of the valley, and they watered their mounts, and they bathed and performed ablution. The sand that was between them and the enemy became firm so that the feet were established upon it, and the whispering of the devil was removed, and the souls were comforted. The pronoun in it refers to the water. It may also refer to the connection, because when patience and courage become established in the heart, the feet are firm in the places of battle.