“O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, then indeed he commands immorality and wrongdoing. Were it not for Allah’s bounty upon you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been purified; but Allah purifies whom He wills, and Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (21)
“Let not those of virtue and means among you swear that they will not give to their relatives, the needy, and those who emigrated in the way of Allah. Let them pardon and overlook. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (22)
“Were it not for Allah’s bounty upon you and His mercy, and because Allah is Most Kind, Most Merciful”: the response to “were it not” has been omitted; that is, He would have hastened the punishment upon you. Ibn ‘Abbas said: This refers to Mistah, Hassan, and Hamnah.
His saying, exalted is He, “O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Whoever follows the footsteps of Satan, then indeed he commands immorality”—that is, shameful deeds—“and wrongdoing,” meaning that which Allah, exalted is He, dislikes. “Were it not for Allah’s bounty upon you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been purified”: Muqatil said, “None of you would have become righteous.” Ibn Qutaybah said, “None of you would have been purified.”
“Not one of you”: according to some Quran commentators, the verse is general in meaning. They said that Allah informs us that, were it not for His bounty and mercy in safeguarding from sin, none of you would be righteous. Others said that this address is directed to those who had engaged in the slander, and its meaning is that none of them would have been purified from this sin, nor would his state have been set right after what he had done. This is the view reported from Ibn ‘Abbas through ‘Ata’; he said, “He would not have accepted the repentance of any of you.”
“Ever; but Allah purifies”: that is, He cleanses “whom He wills” of sin through mercy and forgiveness. “And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.”
His saying, exalted is He, “Let not”: that is, let them not swear. The verb ya'tali is in the ifta'ala form, derived from aliyya, meaning an oath. Abu Ja‘far recited it as yata'alla, placing the ta before the hamza; it is then in the yatafa''ala form, likewise derived from aliyya.
“Those of virtue and means among you”: this refers to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. “That they will not give to their relatives, the needy, and those who emigrated in the way of Allah”: this refers to Mistah, who was a needy emigrant, a veteran of Badr, and the son of Abu Bakr’s maternal aunt. Abu Bakr swore (1) that he would not spend on him. “Let them pardon and overlook”: that is, pardon them for their involvement in the matter of Aishah. “Do you not love”: this addresses Abu Bakr, “that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, recited it to Abu Bakr, he said, “Indeed, I do love that Allah should forgive me,” and he restored