His cause—nothing brings him out of his home except jihad in His cause and belief in His word—that He will admit him into Paradise or return him to the dwelling from which he departed, with whatever reward or spoils he has attained.” (1)

His saying: “While we await for you one of the two evil outcomes”: either “that Allah will afflict you with a punishment from Himself,” thus destroying you as He destroyed the bygone nations, “or by our hands”—that is, by the hands of the believers, should you reveal what is in your hearts. “So wait; indeed, we are waiting with you.” Al-Hasan said: “So wait for the promises of Satan; we are waiting for Allah’s promises to establish His religion and utterly destroy those who oppose it.”

“Say, ‘Spend willingly or unwillingly’”: this is a command intended in the sense of a condition and its consequence; that is, whether you spend willingly or unwillingly. It was revealed concerning Jadd ibn Qays when he sought permission to remain behind and said, “I will assist you with my wealth.” That is: whether you spend willingly or unwillingly, “it will never be accepted from you, for you have been a defiantly disobedient people.”

“Nothing prevented their expenditures from being accepted from them...” Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited “be accepted” with the masculine form, because the verb precedes its subject. The remaining reciters read it with the feminine form, because the verb is ascribed to a feminine plural noun, namely “their expenditures”; thus, they made the verb feminine to indicate that its subject is feminine. “Their expenditures” means their charitable donations. “Except that they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger”: that is, what prevents their expenditures from being accepted is their disbelief. “They do not come to the prayer except lazily,” sluggish and reluctant, because they hope for no reward in performing it and fear no punishment for neglecting it. If it is asked: How can they be censured for laziness in prayer when they have no prayer at all? The answer is that the censure applies to the disbelief that gives rise to laziness; for disbelief induces lethargy, whereas faith energizes. “And they do not spend except unwillingly,” because they regard spending as a loss and withholding as a gain. [2]