48. And when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them

(i.e., between them and their adversaries. The pronoun in "judge" refers to the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. It is also permissible that the pronoun refers to what is understood from the discourse, namely the One called to, which encompasses Allah the Almighty and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him; however, the one who directly executes the judgment is he, peace and blessings be upon him. Allah the Almighty is mentioned in both interpretations to honor him, peace and blessings be upon him, and to signify the majesty of his station with Allah, for his judgment is, in reality, the judgment of Allah the Almighty. It has been said: when two conjoined names are mentioned, and the judgment pertains to only one of them—as in the saying of the Almighty, "They deceive Allah and those who believe"—it implies a strong exclusivity of the conjoined to the one it is joined to, such that they are like a single entity, making it valid to attribute the descriptions and states of one to the other. The pronoun in "they are called" refers to that to which the pronoun in "they say" refers, meaning: and when the hypocrites—or believers in general—are called, "then a party of them turns away.")

48. "Then a party of them turns away."

(Meaning: a party of them is suddenly seized by turning away from seeking judgment from him, peace and blessings be upon him, because the truth is against them, and because they know that he, peace and blessings be upon him, does not judge except by the truth. The conditional sentence is an explanation of the [previous] turning away and an intensification of it, as it indicates their sudden turning away immediately upon being called, even before any judgment is rendered against them. This is in addition to what the nominal sentence, occurring as the response to the condition, indicates regarding permanence and continuity, as is well-known.

The expression "between them" is used rather than "against them" because it is customary for one of the disputing parties to say to the other: "Come with me to so-and-so so that he may judge between us," not "against us," and this is the way of the fair-minded. It has been said: this turning away occurs if the matter is unclear to them, and therefore the Glorified One said: "between them," not "against them," and in this there is an increase in the intensity of their condemnation, though this is a point of discussion.)