Our purpose here is to discuss the verse, so we say:

The third view is the soundest, both in wording and in meaning. As regards the wording, its significance and what it conveys, this expression is used when a person frees himself from something that binds him—his will, that is—and is imposed upon him. One says, “He broke free of it,” as with a captive or a slave held under the constraint of slavery or captivity. One says, “I released the captive, and he became free,” and “I freed a slave.” Allah Most High said:

“And what can make you know what the steep path is? It is the freeing of a slave.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in the authentic hadith narrated by al-Bukhārī:

“Visit the sick, feed the hungry, and free the captive.”

It is also reported in the Sahīh that when ʿAlī was asked what was in the document, he said, “It contains blood money, the release of captives, and the ruling that a Muslim is not to be killed for a disbeliever.”

Thus, releasing someone means separating him from whoever subjugates him and exercises control over him against his will, and parting the two.

One also says, “So-and-so will not leave so-and-so alone until he gets him involved in such-and-such,” and “The one in charge will not let this man go until he does such-and-such.” Such expressions describe someone who persistently holds another in his grip and gains control over him, whether through power and coercion or through making things attractive and appealing and employing means by which the other becomes obedient to him.