Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:103

(And if they had believed), meaning in the Messenger, or in the signs revealed to him, or in the Torah, (and feared), meaning the sins that have been narrated concerning them, (a reward from Allah is better): This is the answer to the conditional particle "if" (law). The origin is: "They would have been rewarded with a reward from Allah better than that for which they sold their souls." The verb was omitted, and the structure altered to what you see, in order to use this—with the aid of the context—to indicate the permanence of the reward and the stability of the attribute of "betterness" ascribed to it, while simultaneously asserting its truth. This is because, when the sentence implies the permanence of the reward, the judgment is equivalent to connecting it to a derivative; as if it were said: "(A reward) that is permanent, (is better) due to its permanence and stability."

The object of comparison was omitted to honor the thing being compared, lest it be attributed to it. He did not say "Allah's reward," even though it would be more concise, so that the indefinite form might suggest insignificance, thereby implying that a small amount of Allah's reward in the eternal Hereafter is better than much reward in the fleeting world. How much more so, then, when Allah’s reward is abundant and eternal? In this lies a manner of encouragement and warning appropriate to the context that is not hidden.

By clarifying the origin, two difficulties are resolved:

1. The verbal difficulty: That the answer to "if" (law) must be a past-tense verbal sentence.
2. The semantic difficulty: That the "betterness" of the reward is an established fact, having no connection to their belief or lack thereof.

Because of these two difficulties, al-Akhfash—and a group who chose his view for its safety from the appearance of an initial sentence serving as an answer to "if," which is not known in the language of the Arabs, as stated in al-Bahr—said that the lam (in lamathubatan) is the answer to an omitted oath. The estimation is: "And if they had believed and feared, it would have been better for them, and a reward from Allah is [indeed] better." Some insist on the optative (tamanni), but from the side of the servants, not from His side—contrary to the Mutazila—to avoid these difficulties; for in that case, there is no answer to "if," and the speech is an initiation. It is as if, when he wished that for them, it was said: "What is this sorrow and wishing?" So it was answered that these base people were deprived of that of which a small amount is better than the world and all that is in it. In this is an incitement and urging toward belief.

Abu Hayyan held that "better" (khayrun) here is for preference, not for comparative superiority, in the manner of: "The best of your two, is a ransom for the worst of your two."

Mathubah is a maf‘alah (with a damma on the ‘ayn) derived from thawab (reward); the damma was transferred to the preceding letter, so it is a mim-prefixed verbal noun (masdar). It is said to be a maf‘ulah form, originally mathwuwah; the damma of the waw was transferred to the preceding letter, and it was deleted due to the meeting of two stagnant letters. Thus, it is among the verbal nouns that come in the maf‘ulah form, like masduqah, as al-Wahidi reported. It is also said mathubah with a sukun on the tha’ and a fatha on the waw. It should have undergone an inflection (i‘lal) and been said mathabah like maqamah, but they kept it sound, just as they kept makuzah sound in proper nouns. Qatadah and Abu al-Sammak read it this way. What is meant by it is recompense and wage; it is named as such because the doer of good returns to it. The statement that it means the return to Allah the Exalted is far-fetched.

(If they only knew): The object is omitted based on the preceding context, meaning: If they knew that Allah’s reward is (better). The word "if" (law) is either conditional with the answer omitted (i.e., they would have believed), or it is for wishing (tamanni), and there is no omission. The negation of knowledge in either estimation is the negation of its fruit, which is action, or the refusal to contemplate.

(And Solomon did not disbelieve) by observing "other-than-Him," following desire, and attributing effect to others. (But the devils disbelieved) and concealed the effectiveness of Allah and His manifestation, which obliterated the darkness of non-existence. (Teaching the people magic) and the doubts that prevent traveling and traversing to the King of Kings. (And what was sent down upon the two angels), who are the theoretical intellect and the practical intellect, descended from the heaven of sanctity to the earth of nature, inverted into its well due to their turning toward it by the soul's attraction of them (in Babylon), the breast, tormented by the narrowness of the place between the vapors of the love of status, the materials of anger, and the smoke of the fires of desires, afflicted with types of false imaginings and illusions of tricks, sorcery, talismans, and enchantments.

(And they do not teach anyone until they say) to him: (We are only) a trial and a test from Allah, (so do not disbelieve). This is due to the luminous strength and the remnant of the celestial nature in them, for the intellect always alerts its possessor when he awakens from his intoxication and rises from his sleep of disbelief and being veiled. (And they learn from them that by which they cause separation between) the heart and the soul, or between the spirit and the soul by clouding the heart. (And they learn what harms them) by increasing the veiling and the prevalence of the soul’s desire, (and does not benefit them)—like other sciences—in lifting the veil and purifying and cleansing the soul. (And they have certainly known that whoever purchased it, he has no) portion in the station of annihilation and return to the Truth (Al-Haqq)—glorified be He—due to his turning toward the lower world and his distance from the upper world by the clouding of the essence of his heart and his indulgence in seeing the "others."

(And if they had believed) by seeing the actions from Allah the Exalted, (and feared) polytheism by affirming anything other than Him, (they would have been rewarded with a reward from Allah) the Exalted, [which is] permanent, and they would have returned to Him. That is (better for them, if they were) among those of knowledge, gnosis, insight, and certainty.