Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:67

And then We would have given them – meaning: We would have bestowed upon them – from Us – meaning: from Our presence – a reward – meaning: a recompense – great – whose beginning no one knows and whose end no one reaches. The mention of "from Us" is only for emphasis and exaggeration.

It (the phrase "from Us") is connected to "We would have given them." It is also permitted that it be a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for "a reward." The waw is for conjunction, and "We would have given them" is conjoined to "it would have been better for them" in wording. The word idha (then/in that case) is inserted to indicate that this latter reward follows the ordering of the consequent (the result) after the antecedent (the condition).

To manifest and verify this, the verifiers (muhaqqiqun) said: It is a response to an implied question, as if it were said, "And what would be theirs after being steadfast?" It was then said: "And then" – meaning, if they had been steadfast, We would have given them. It is not their intent that it is a response to a question implied in wording and meaning, for otherwise, its coupling with the waw would have no basis. The clarification of the law (if) is not because it is implied, but to verify that this is a response to a condition, albeit after considering its first consequence.

The intent of the scholars when they all say, "The idha is always a responsive particle," is that it does not occur at the beginning of speech; rather, it is in speech built upon something that preceded it, whether explicitly stated or implied, such as a condition, the speech of an inquirer, or the like. Just as the intent behind the reward associated with it—or generally belonging to it—is not merely that which is a recompense for the act of an actor, whether that actor be the inquirer or someone else. With this, the doubts raised in this context are repelled.

Al-Tayyibi claimed that what we have pointed to regarding the implication is forced in three respects. This is a misconception arising from heedlessness of the intended meaning, similar to what the second eminent scholar (al-`Allamah al-Thani) claimed. So contemplate this.