“O you who believe, stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So do not follow your desires, lest you depart from justice. And if you distort or turn away, then indeed Allah is All-Aware of what you do. (135)”
His saying, Exalted is He: “If He wills, He can do away with you”—that is, destroy you—“O people,” meaning the disbelievers, “and bring others,” meaning people other than you, who are better and more obedient than you. “And Allah is ever capable of that”—that is, fully able to do so.
“Whoever desires the reward of this world, then with Allah is the reward of this world and the Hereafter.” That is, whoever seeks through his deeds some worldly gain and does not seek Allah thereby, Allah gives him some worldly gain—or wards off from him in this world whatever He wills; but he will have no reward in the Hereafter. Whoever seeks by his deeds the reward of the Hereafter, Allah grants him from this world whatever He wishes and rewards him with Paradise in the Hereafter. “And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
“O you who believe, stand firm for justice as witnesses for Allah”: that is, uphold testimony with equity—that is, with justice—for Allah. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Uphold justice in testimony, whoever it may be against.” “Even if it be against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives,” meaning relatives by blood: speak the truth, even against yourselves by making an admission, or against your parents and close relatives; so establish this testimony against them for Allah’s sake. Do not show favoritism to a rich person because of his wealth, nor show undue compassion to a poor person because of his poverty. This is the meaning of His saying, Exalted is He: “Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both.” That is, give testimony against the one against whom it is made, even if he is rich, and for the one in whose favor it is made, even if he is poor; for Allah is more worthy of both than you are. In other words, entrust their affair to Allah. Al-Hasan said: Its meaning is that Allah knows them both better.
“So do not follow your desires, lest you depart from justice”: that is, lest you act unjustly and incline from the truth toward falsehood. It was also said that it means: Do not follow your desires so that you may be just—that is, so that you may be people of justice—just as one says, “Do not follow your desires, so that you may please your Lord.”
“And if you distort”: that is, if you alter the testimony in order to invalidate the truth; “or turn away” from it, concealing it and failing to establish it. It is also said that “if you distort” means: if you delay in presenting testimony. One says, “I delayed his due,” when one puts it off and procrastinates. It was also said that this is an address to judges concerning their twisting of their mouths; that is, “if you distort”—if you incline toward one of the two litigants—or turn away from him. Ibn Amir and Hamzah recited it as “if you neglect,” with a dammah on the lam. It was said that its original form was “if you distort,” but one of the two waws was omitted for ease of pronunciation. It was also said that it means: if you neglect to carry out the giving of