(84) “So fight in the cause of Allah; you are accountable only for yourself. Urge the believers on. Perhaps Allah will restrain the might of those who disbelieve. Allah is mightier in force and more severe in exemplary punishment.”

This is the best state a servant can attain: to strive personally to obey Allah’s command, whether in jihad or anything else, and to urge others to do likewise. A servant, however, may lack both of these qualities, or one of them. For this reason, He said to His Messenger: “So fight in the cause of Allah; you are accountable only for yourself.” That is, you have (1) no power over anyone other than yourself and will therefore not be held responsible for another person’s actions. “Urge the believers” to fight. This includes everything that invigorates the believers and strengthens their hearts, such as reinforcing them; informing them of the enemy’s weakness and demoralization; and telling them of the reward prepared for those who fight and the punishment awaiting those who stay behind. All this and anything similar falls under urging them to fight.

“Perhaps Allah will restrain the might of those who disbelieve”—that is, through your fighting in the cause of Allah and urging one another on. “Allah is mightier in force”—that is, in strength and invincibility—“and more severe in exemplary punishment,” both in punishing the offender himself and in making an example of him to others. Had He willed, the Exalted could have exacted retribution from the disbelievers by His power and left not one of them alive.