It is related that this verse was revealed concerning some people from Asad and Ghatafan. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, called them to Islam, but there was an alliance between them and the Jews. They said, “We cannot embrace Islam, for we fear that Muhammad may not be granted victory and that his cause may not prevail; then the alliance between us and the Jews will be severed, and they will neither provide us with provisions nor give us shelter.” Thus this verse was revealed. (1)

Mujahid said: “Support” here means provision, and the pronoun refers back to “whoever.” Its meaning is: whoever thinks that Allah will not provide for him in this world and the Hereafter. It was revealed concerning one who thinks ill of Allah, exalted is He, and fears that Allah will not provide for him: “Let him stretch out a rope to the sky”—that is, to the ceiling of his house—then let him see whether that action will remove what enrages him, namely, his fear of not being provided for.

The word “support” may indeed carry the meaning of provision. The Arabs say, “Whoever provides for me, may Allah provide for him,” meaning: whoever gives to me, may Allah give to him. Abu Ubaydah said: The Arabs say, “A land that has been supported,” meaning, one upon which rain has fallen.

Abu Amr, Nafi, Ibn Amir, and Yaqub recited “then let him cut” and “then let them complete” with a kasrah on the letter lam. The remaining reciters read it with the lam vowelless, since all of these are imperative lams. Ibn Amir further recited, “and let them fulfil their vows and perform circumambulation” (al-Hajj: 29), with a kasrah on the lam in both instances. Those who used a kasrah in “then let him cut” and “then let them complete” distinguished between them on the grounds that the particle meaning “then” is separate from the following word, whereas the prefixed conjunction meaning “and” is, as it were, part of the word itself, just like the prefixed particle in “then let him see.”