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And from his narration on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas that he said concerning the interpretation of Allah's saying (O ye who believe!): (O ye who believe!) referring to Hatib, (Choose not My enemy) in religion (and your enemy) who fight you, i.e. the people of Mecca (for friends) seeking their assistance and help. (Do ye give them friendship) you send them a letter to assist and help them (when they disbelieve in that truth which hath come unto you) i.e. to Hatib, (driving out the messenger) Muhammad (pbuh) from Mecca (and you) i.e. Hatib (because ye believe) because of your faith (in Allah, your Lord? If ye have come forth) if you have, O Hatib, come forth from Mecca to Medina (to strive in My way) for the sake of My obedience (and seeking My good pleasure, (show them not friendship). Do ye show friendship unto them in secret) do not send letters to them in secret to assist and help them, (when I am best Aware of what ye hide) i.e. of what you hide, O Hatib, regarding the letter; and it is also said that this means: regarding your faith (and what ye proclaim) O Hatib, of excuse; and it is also said: of profession of Allah's divine Oneness? (And whosoever doeth it among you) whoever of you, O believers, does as Hatib did, (he verily hath strayed from the right way) he has indeed strayed from the path of guidance.

(If they have the upper hand of you) if the people of Mecca defeat you, (they will be your foes) by killing you, it will be evident for you that they are your enemies, (and will stretch out their hands) to beat you (and their tongues towards you with evil (intent)) with abuse and slander, (and they) the disbelievers of Mecca (long for you to disbelieve) in Allah after you have accepted faith in Muhammad (pbuh) and in the Qur'an and migrated to Allah's Messenger (pbuh).

(Your ties of kindred) in Mecca, if you were to disbelieve, (and your children will avail you naught upon the Day of Resurrection) against Allah's chastisement. (He will part you) He will separate you from the believers on the Day of Judgement; and it is also said this means: He will judge between you on this. (Allah is Seer of what ye do) of good and evil.

(There is a goodly pattern) a good example (for you) O Hatib (Abraham) in Abraham's words (and those with him) and also in the words of the believers who were with him, (when they told their folk) when they told their disbelieving kinsfolk; (Lo! we are guiltless of you) of your kinship and religion (and all that ye worship beside Allah) of idols. (We have done with you) we absolve ourselves from you and from your religion. (And there hath arisen between us and you hostility) through killing and beating (and hate) in the hearts (for ever until ye believe in Allah only) until you declare Allah's divine Oneness (save that which Abraham promised) save the words of Abraham to (his father (when he said): I will ask forgiveness for thee) because he promised him to do so, but when his father died in a state of disbelief, Abraham disavowed him, saying: (though I own nothing for thee from Allah) from Allah's chastisement. Allah then taught them what to say: (Our Lord!) O our Lord! (In Thee we put our trust) we rely on you, (and unto Thee we turn repentant) we turn to your obedience, (and unto Thee is the journeying) and unto You is the return in the Hereafter.

(Our Lord!) Say: O our Lord! (Make us not a prey for those who disbelieve) for the disbelievers of Mecca; they said: do not set them on us, lest they think they are following the Truth while we are following falsehood, which will only embolden them against us, (and forgive us) our sins, (our Lord!) O our Lord! (Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Mighty) in retribution against whoever does not believe in You, (the Wise) in helping those who believe in You.

(Verily ye have in them) you have, O Hatib, in the words of Abraham and the believers with him (a goodly pattern) a good example to emulate (for everyone who looketh to Allah) for everyone who fears Allah (and the Last Day) and resurrection after death. Would it not be better for you, O Hatib, to say as Abraham and the believers with him said. (And whosoever may turn away) from what he was commanded by Allah, (lo! still Allah, He is the Absolute) Allah is free of need for him as He is free of need for His creation, (the Owner of Praise) Who is praiseworthy in His acts; and it is said this means: the Owner of Praise regarding the one who professes His divine Oneness; and it is also said that the Owner of Praise means: He is thankful for little but He rewards for it abundantly.

(It may be) �may be� when used in connection with Allah denotes a requisite (that Allah will ordain love) a bond and marriage relationships; and it so happened that the Prophet (pbuh) married, upon the conquest of Mecca, Umm Habibah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan, and this became a bond between them and the Prophet (pbuh) (between you and those of them with whom ye are at enmity) those of the people of Mecca whom you oppose with regard to religion. (Allah is Mighty) He is able to give His Prophet the upper hand over the disbelievers of Quraysh, (and Allah is Forgiving) He forgives whoever amongt them repents of disbelief and accepts faith in Allah, (Merciful) towards whoever amongst them dies in a state of faith and repentance.

(Allah forbideth you not) to help and have relations with (those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes) i.e. from Mecca, nor helpe those who drove you out of it, (that ye should show them kindness) that you should have relations with them and help them (and deal justly with them) by honouring your pledges to them. (Lo! Allah loveth the just dealers) the just ones who honour their pledges. The latter are Khuza'ah, the people of Hilal Ibn 'Uwaymir, and Khuzaymah and the Banu Mudlij who signed a treaty with the Prophet (pbuh) before the year of the al-Hudaybiyyah and which stipulated that they will not fight against him, drive him out of Mecca or help anyone to drive him out of Mecca. It is for this reason that Allah did not forbid him from having relations with them.

(Allah forbideth you only those) He forbids you from having relations with those (who warred against you on account of religion) the people of Mecca (and have driven you out from your homes) Mecca (and helped to drive you out) from Mecca, (that you make friends of them) seeking their assistance and help. (Whosoever maketh friends of them) seeking their help and assistance ((All) such are wrong-doers) who harm themselves.

(O ye who believe! When believing women) who truly believe in Allah (come unto you as fugitives) from Mecca to Medina or al-Hudaybiyyah, (examine them) ask them and let them swear as to their intentions from their coming. (Allah is best aware of their faith) Allah is best aware of their hearts' firmness in faith. (Then, if ye know them for true believers) through examination, (send them not back unto the disbelievers) do not send them back to their disbelieving husbands. (They are not) i.e. the believing women, (lawful for the disbelievers) for their disbelieving husbands, (nor are the disbelievers lawful for them) for the believing women. Allah says: a believing woman is not lawful for a disbelieving man nor is a disbelieving woman lawful for a believing man. (And give the disbelievers that which they have spent (upon them)) give their husbands that which they have spent on them as dower. This was revealed about Subay'ah Bint al-Harth al-Aslamiyyah who came to the Prophet (pbuh) in the year of al-Hudaybiyyah, to declare her Islam but her husband Musafir came after her to take her back. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give peace, gave him back the dowry which her husband had given her. In that particular year, and before the revelation of this verse, the people of Mecca had signed a treaty with the Prophet (pbuh) which stipulated that whoever from the people of Mecca embraces Islam can join the Muslims, and whoever of the Muslims embraces the religion of the Meccan pagans is returned to the Muslims; and any woman from the people of Mecca who embraces Islam, the Muslims should pay back the dowry given to her to her husband, and any Muslim woman who joins the religion of the Meccan pagans, the people of Mecca should pay back her dowry to her husband. This is why the Prophet (pbuh) paid back to Musafir the dowry which he had given to Subay'ah. (And it is no sin for you) O believers (to marry such women) those who were disbelievers and then embraced Islam (when ye have given them their dues) when you have given them their dowry. Allah says here: any woman who embraces Islam while her husband remains a disbeliever, the sacred bond that ties her to her husband becomes broken and, therefore, she does not have to observe a waiting period and can marry after making sure she is not pregnant.

(And if any of your wives have gone from you unto the disbelievers) with whom you do not have any treaty or pledge (and afterward ye have your turn (of triumph)) and afterward you obtain booty from the enemy, (then give unto those whose wives have gone) to the disbelievers (the like of that which they have spent) of dowry on their wives; this should be given before the fifth of the booty is taken out from it, (and keep your duty to Allah) fear Allah regarding that which He commands you (in whom ye are believers) true believers. There were just six women who left Islam and joined the disbelievers of Mecca, two of them were wives of 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, Umm Salamah and Umm Kulthum Bint Jarul, and also Umm al-Hakam the daughter of Abu Sufyan who was the wife of 'Abbad Ibn Shaddad al-Fihri, and Fatimah Bint Abi Umayyah Ibn al-Mughirah and Buru' Bint 'Uqbah who was the wife of Shammas Ibn 'Uthman from the Banu Makhzum, and 'Abdah Bint 'Abd al-'Uzza Ibn Nadlah whose husband was 'Amr Ibn Wudd, and Hind Bint Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham whose husband was Hashim Ibn al-'Ass Ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi. The Prophet (pbuh) gave back to the husbands of these women the dowry they had spend on them.

(O Prophet!) Meaning Muhammad (If believing women) the woman of the people of Mecca (come unto thee) after the conquest of Mecca, (taking oath of allegiance unto thee that they will ascribe nothing as partner unto Allah) among idols nor deem this to be lawful, (and will neither steal) or deem stealing permitted (nor commit adultery) or deem it lawful (nor kill their children) nor bury their daughters alive or deem this to be lawful, (nor produce any lie) nor bring any child conceived from fornication (that they have devised between their hands and feet) and then tell their husbands it is theirs, (nor disobey you in what is right) nor disobey you in all that which you command and forbid them such as shunning wailing, pulling out their hair, tearing apart their clothes, scratching their faces, rending their outer garments, shaving their heads, being alone with strangers or travelling alone a journey of three days or less without the company of an unmarriageable person, (then accept their allegiance) on this (and ask Allah to forgive them) that which they committed in the pre-Islamic era. (Lo! Allah is Forgiving) after the conquest of Mecca, He forgives them what they committed in the pre-Islamic period, (Merciful) in relation to what they do after they have accepted Islam.

(O ye who believe!) referring here to 'Abdullah Ibn Ubayy and his fellow believers (Be not friendly) i.e. seeking their help and assistance and divulging to them the secrets of the Prophet (pbuh) (with a folk with whom Allah is wroth) twice; this refers to the Jews when they said: �Allah's Hand is uptight� and again when they disbelieved in Muhammad (pbuh) ((a folk) who have despaired of the Hereafter) who have despaired of the bliss of Paradise (as the disbelievers) the disbelievers of Mecca (despair of those who are in the graves) i.e. of the return of the people of the graves; and it is also said that this means: of the questioning of Munkar and Nakir; and it is also said this means: do not be friendly with a folk with whom Allah is wroth, but rather be of those who glorify Allah and pray to Him'.