That is to say: fraternity founded on worldly interests.

“It will avail its people nothing” means it will not benefit them in the least; on the contrary, it will harm them.

Overall meaning of the report: Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with him) limits the causes that bring a servant Allah’s love and His support to three: loving Allah’s friends, hating His enemies, and making both love and hatred public by standing with the believers, boycotting the evildoers, and fighting them. He adds that whoever lacks these qualities will never taste the sweetness of faith, no matter how abundant his acts of worship. Ibn ʿAbbās then observes that in his own time matters had been reversed: people loved and hated one another for the sake of this world, and such feelings do them no good but rather harm them. He next explained the noble verse, “and all their ties will be severed” (Q 2:166), saying that the love they shared in this life will be cut off from them on the Day of Resurrection, betraying them when they need it most, and they will disown one another because that love was not for Allah.

Relevance of the narration to this chapter: it shows that winning Allah’s love and His help is conditional upon two things:

1. Loving Allah’s allies and hating His enemies inwardly.
2. Manifesting that love and hatred outwardly by supporting His allies and fighting His enemies.

Lessons drawn from the narration:

1. It identifies the means by which a servant gains Allah’s love and His assistance.
2. It affirms that Allah possesses love in a manner befitting His majesty.
3. It demonstrates the legitimacy and excellence of loving and hating for Allah’s sake, and that no abundance of righteous deeds can replace them.