“Indeed, those who persecute believing men and believing women and then do not repent will have the punishment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire. Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great triumph. Indeed, the assault of your Lord is severe. Indeed, it is He who originates and restores. And He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Loving, the Glorious, Owner of the Throne, Doer of whatever He wills. Has there come to you the account of the armies?”

“Indeed, those who persecute” means: those who tortured and burned “the believing men and believing women.” One says, “You subjected something to fitnah,” when one burns it. Its parallel is: “The Day they will be tormented over the Fire” (al-Dhariyat 51:13). “Then do not repent, they will have the punishment of Hell” for their disbelief 189/b, “and they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire” because they burned the believers. It was also said: they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire [in this world; for Allah burned them with the Fire with which] (1) they had burned the believers. It rose up from the trench upon them. This was stated by al-Rabi ibn Anas and al-Kalbi.

He then mentioned what He has prepared for the believers, saying: “Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great triumph.”

They differed concerning the answer to the oath. Some said that its answer is: “Destroyed were the companions of the trench,” meaning: they were indeed slain.

It was also said that there is an inversion in the order of the words; its intended order is: “Destroyed were the companions of the trench; by the heaven full of great stars.” Qatadah said: Its answer is: “Indeed, the assault of your Lord is severe.” Ibn Abbas said: His seizing the wrongdoers with punishment, when He seizes them, is severe, as in His saying: “Indeed, His seizure is painful and severe” (Hud 11:102).

“Indeed, it is He who originates and restores”: that is, He creates them initially in this world, then restores them to life after death. “And He is the All-Forgiving,” of the believers’ sins; “the Most Loving,” that is, loving toward them. It was also said that it means “the Beloved,” just as a milked animal and a ridden animal mean that which is milked and that which is ridden. It was also said: He forgives and loves to forgive. Another interpretation is that He shows affection to His close servants through forgiveness.

“The Glorious, Owner of the Throne”: Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited “the glorious” in the genitive case, as an adjective describing the Throne—that is, the mighty throne. It was also said that it refers to its beauty, describing it with glory just as it is described with nobility in His saying: “Lord of the Noble Throne” (al-Mu’minun 23:116). Its meaning is perfection, and the Throne is the finest and most perfect of created things. The other reciters read it in the nominative case, as an adjective describing the Owner of the Throne.

“Doer of whatever He wills”: nothing that He wills can render Him incapable, and nothing that He seeks can resist Him.

His saying, exalted is He, “Has there come to you the account of the armies?” means: the news of the disbelieving multitudes who had mobilized.