in the market. “No harm touched them”: no injury or unpleasant thing befell them. “They pursued Allah’s good pleasure”: through obedience to Allah and obedience to His Messenger. This was because they said, “Will this be a military expedition?” So Allah granted them the reward of an expedition and was pleased with them. “And Allah is the Possessor of great bounty.”
“It is only Satan who seeks to make you fear his allies. So do not fear them; fear Me, if you are believers. (175) Do not let those who rush headlong into disbelief grieve you. They will not harm Allah in the least. Allah intends to grant them no share in the Hereafter, and theirs will be a tremendous punishment. (176) Indeed, those who have purchased disbelief at the price of faith will not harm Allah in the least, and theirs will be a painful punishment. (177) Let not those who disbelieve suppose that the respite We grant them is good for them. We grant them respite only so that they may increase in sin, and theirs will be a humiliating punishment. (178)”
His saying, Exalted is He, “It is only Satan”: that is, the statement made to you—“Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them”—was Satan’s doing. He put it into their mouths in order to frighten them and make them too cowardly to confront them. “He seeks to make you fear his allies”: that is, he makes you fear by means of his allies. This is likewise the recitation of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb; that is, he frightens the believers by means of the disbelievers. Al-Suddi said: “He magnifies his allies in their hearts so that they will fear them.” This is supported by the recitation of Abdullah ibn Masʿud: “He makes you fear his allies.” “So do not fear them; fear Me”: fear Me by not forsaking My command, “if you are believers,” affirming My promise; for I have undertaken to grant you aid and victory.
His saying, Exalted is He, “Do not let ... grieve you”: Nafiʿ recited it in the causative form, with a dammah on the ya and a kasrah on the zay, as he did throughout the Quran, except in His saying, “The greatest terror will not grieve them”; Abu Jaʿfar recited the reverse. Both are valid Arabic forms: hazina–yahzunu and ahzana–yuhzinu, although the more prevalent form is hazina–yahzunu. “Those who rush headlong into disbelief”: Al-Dahhak said that they were the disbelievers of Quraysh, while others said that they were the hypocrites, who rushed into disbelief by supporting the disbelievers. “They will not harm Allah in the least”: by their haste in disbelief. “Allah intends to grant them no share in the Hereafter”: no share in the reward of the Hereafter. It was for this reason that He left them without His aid, until they rushed into disbelief. “And theirs will be a tremendous punishment.”
“Indeed, those who have purchased”: exchanged, “disbelief for faith will not harm Allah in the least”; rather, they only harm themselves. “And theirs will be a painful punishment.”
“Let not those who disbelieve suppose”: Hamzah recited this verse and the one following it with the ta in both, while the others recited them with the ya. According to the reading with the ya, “those” is in the nominative as the subject, and its construction is: (1) “Let not the disbelievers suppose that Our granting them respite is good.” As for whoever recites it with the ta