or this, or this,” as He says: “Its expiation is this, or this, or this,” and as He says:

“Then compensation by fasting, charity, or sacrifice.”

Rather, He says: “Their recompense is only this, or this, or this.” This wording combines negation and affirmation: its meaning is that their recompense is nothing other than one of the three. Likewise, He says in the verse concerning alms:

“Alms are only for the poor and the needy.”

That is, they are only for these people. It has been established that such wording affirms for those mentioned what it denies to others. Thus, by excluding the permissibility of giving to those outside these categories, it affirms permissibility—not obligation or entitlement, as those who held that every category must be included understood from the apparent wording. Here, He excludes anything other than one of these punishments as a recompense, thereby establishing that the recompense of one who wages war is one of these punishments. Those who wage war constitute a group, not a single individual. The distinction between this verse and the other two verses thus becomes clear in several respects:

First: Those who wage war are referred to in the plural. Setting one plural against another entails distributing the members of one among the members of the other. If it were said, “The recompense of aggressors is either execution, amputation, flogging, crucifixion, or imprisonment,” this would not imply a choice among these punishments for every aggressor. Rather, the punishments would be distributed among the different categories of aggressors. The same applies when it is said, “The recompense of those who wage war is this, or this, or this, or this.” This differs from His saying:

“Its expiation,”

and His saying:

“Whoever among you is ill or on a journey—then an equal number of days.”