Spend, meaning in the way of Allah and the paths of righteousness, willingly or unwillingly. It is in the accusative case as a state, meaning willingly or unwillingly. If you say: How did He command them to spend and then say, 'It will not be accepted from you?' I say: It is a command in the meaning of a statement, like His saying, glorified and exalted is He, 'Say, whoever is in misguidance, let the Most Merciful extend for him an extension.' Its meaning is: It will not be accepted from you whether you spend willingly or unwillingly. Similar is His saying, 'Ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them.' And His saying: 'Whether you do harm to us or do good, there is no blame.' [Whether you do harm to us or do good, there is no blame ... upon us or reproach if you do so.] This is said by a person of honor, who says: Test me in love, and treat me with harm and kindness, and see if my state changes. And do what your husband compels you to do in insulting me, as comes in his words, and do not hesitate about it, for it is like your kindness. For this reason, he mentioned kindness, and the meaning is: there is no blame and no hatred, whether you did harm or good. The command is in the meaning of a statement. Then he turned and said: There is no blame for honor with us nor hatred if you show hatred, meaning if you feign hatred towards us and display it. It is possible that the meaning is: you are not to be blamed nor disliked, so the turning in His saying 'if you show hatred' is only. It means: Allah will not forgive them, whether you ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them. And we do not blame you, whether you did harm to us or did good. If you say: When is such a thing permissible? I say: If the speech indicates it, just as the opposite is permissible in your saying, 'May Allah have mercy on Zayd and forgive him.' If you say: Why did He do that? I say: There is a point in it, which is that many, as if He is saying to honor: Test the kindness of your position with Me and the strength of My love for you, and treat me with harm and kindness, and see if my state changes with you whether you did harm or good. In this meaning is the saying of the poet: 'Your brother, if you approach him with the sword intending to strike him, he will not consider it a betrayal in love.' [Your brother, if you approach him with the sword intending to strike him, he will not consider it a betrayal in love.] 'And if you came seeking his protection to stay with him, he would hasten to show concern for you against the harm of rejection.' He sees that he is in love, even if he is negligent, even though he has exceeded the limit in it. It is narrated as 'he will not consider you treacherous or harmful.' And it is clarified that the concern is fear. And 'the negligent' refers to the one who is lax. He says: Your true brother is the one who, if you intended harm towards him, would not consider it a betrayal from you in love, but rather would hasten to fulfill all that you requested out of fear for you from the harm of denial, believing or thinking that he is negligent in love, even though he has exceeded the limit and taken on more than he can bear. Likewise, the meaning is: Spend and see if it is accepted from you? And ask forgiveness for them or do not ask forgiveness for them, and see if you notice any difference between the state of asking forgiveness and leaving it? If you say: What is the purpose in denying acceptance? Is it that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, does not accept it from them and returns what they offer? Or is it that it is not accepted with Allah, going to waste with no reward? I say: Both meanings are possible. And His saying 'willingly or unwillingly' means willingly without being compelled by Allah and His Messenger, or compelled. And He called the compulsion coercion because they are hypocrites, so their being compelled to spend was difficult for them like coercion. Or willingly without coercion from your leaders, because the leaders of the people of hypocrisy would urge spending due to the benefit they see in it, or coerced from their side. It is narrated that it was revealed regarding Al-Jad bin Qais when he stayed back from the Battle of Tabuk and said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, 'This is my wealth, I can show it to you, so leave me.' Indeed, you are justifying their refusal to spend. And the intended meaning of 'fisk' is: rebellion and arrogance.