And He answers those who have believed and done righteous deeds.

This is a conjunction to "He accepts repentance." The subject is His pronoun (Exalted is He), and "those" (alladhina) is the object, without the estimation of anything, based on the fact that "He answers" (yastajibu) is transitive by itself—just as it is transitive with the particle lam—similar to "I thanked him" (shakartuhu) and "I thanked for him" (shakartu lahu). Or, it is by the estimation of the lam on the basis of it being of the category of omission and inclusion (the original being: yastajibu li-lladhina amanu), based on the fact that it is transitive toward the caller via the lam by itself. Similar to this is the saying:

A caller called to those who respond to the call of generosity, Yet no one responded to his call at that moment.

"He answered" (ajaba) and "He responded" (istajaba) have the same meaning; that is, Allah (Exalted is He) answers those who have believed when they call upon Him. The summary of this is that He answers their supplication. Some permitted that the phrase involves the estimation of a missing adjunct (mudaf). It is said: This is better than the statement of establishing the verb by omitting the connective, because the omission of an adjunct—if it is not confusing—is analogical, whereas the other is merely heard (auditory).

It is permissible that the intended meaning is "He rewards them for their obedience," for obedience—because it is a seeking of the reward that results from it—resembles supplication, and the rewarding for it resembles the answer. From this, praise is called supplication, because it results in what it results in. Sufyan was asked about the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith: "The best of my supplication and the supplication of the prophets before me is: 'There is no god but Allah alone, no partner has He; to Him belongs the dominion, and to Him belongs the praise, and He is over all things capable.'" This is like His saying (Exalted is He) in the Holy Hadith: "Whoever is distracted by My remembrance from asking Me, I shall give him the best of what I give the askers." Do you not see the saying of Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt to Ibn Jud'an when he came to him seeking his favor:

Shall I mention my need, or has your praise sufficed me? Indeed, your nature is modesty. If a man praises you one day, Praise suffices him from exposing himself to you.

They categorized as part of this his saying (peace and blessings be upon him), "The best of supplication is: 'Praise be to Allah'," based on the meaning that praise indicates supplication and asking by way of metonymy and implication. It is said: It is based on the application of "supplication" to "praise" because of their similarity in seeking what results from them. It is also permitted that the answer be intended in its literal sense, as well as the rewarding, based on the statement that it is valid to combine the literal and the figurative; i.e., He answers their supplication and rewards them for their obedience.

"And increases them" (yaziduhum)—beyond what they asked for and deserved—"from His bounty" (min fadlihi), the Vast, Glorified is His Majesty.

It is said that the subject of "And those who have believed answer" (wa yastajibu alladhina amanu) is the believers themselves. Abu Hayyan considered this more prominent, and the clause is a conjunction to the totality of His saying (Exalted is He): "He is the One who accepts repentance," etc. That is: They are submissive to Allah (Exalted is He) and they respond to Him (Glorified is He) when He calls them. This is what is narrated from Ibn Jubayr. It is narrated from Ibrahim ibn Adham that it was said to him: "Why do we call upon Him, yet we are not answered?" He replied: "Because He (Glorified is He) called you, yet you did not answer Him." Then he recited: "And Allah calls to the Home of Peace, and those who have believed answer." This confirms this perspective, for he (may his secret be sanctified) mentioned that Allah (Exalted is He) called you with His saying (Mighty and Majestic is He): "And Allah calls to the Home of Peace," and he mentioned that the believer is he who responded to the call of his Lord (Exalted is He) with His saying: "And those who have believed answer." Thus, whoever does not answer His call (Exalted is He), He (Exalted is He) also does not answer his call. That the subject is His pronoun (Exalted is He) has also been narrated in a manner that requires it from Ibn Abbas and Mu'adh ibn Jabal.

"And increases them" is a conjunction to what precedes it. On the other (the second) view, it is a conjunction to an estimated element; i.e., "He will fulfill their wages for them and increase them upon that," following the style of: "And they said, 'Praise to Allah, who has favored us...'" His saying (Glorified is He), "from His bounty," is related to "increases them" absolutely. It is also permitted that it be related to both verbs due to tanazu' (competition for governance), for the answering and the rewarding are both bounties from Him (Exalted is He), just as the increase is.

However it may be, the apparent meaning is the generality of "those who have believed." It is narrated from Sa'id ibn Jubayr that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Medina and Islam was firmly established, the Ansar said among themselves: "We shall approach him (peace and blessings be upon him) and say to him: 'If matters weigh upon you, these are our possessions, rule over them.'" Then was revealed: "Say, 'I do not ask of you for it any reward except the affection in [regard to] kinship.'" He recited it to them and said: "You show affection to my kinship after me." They left as Muslims. The hypocrites said: "This is something he fabricated in his assembly; he only intended by that the honor of his kinship after him." Then was revealed: "Or do they say, 'He has invented a lie about Allah'?" He sent for them and recited it to them; they fell down (in grief/repentance) and regretted it. Then Allah (Exalted is He) revealed: "And He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent for them and gave them glad tidings, and said: "And those who have believed answer"—they are those who submitted to his word. Al-Tabarsi mentioned this, and he mentioned something close to it in al-Durr al-Manthur, but he said: "Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Awsat and Ibn Mardawayh from Ibn Jubayr with a weak chain of narration," and what prevails in the thought is that it is a fabrication.

"And the disbelievers will have a severe punishment." This is in exchange for what the believers have of answering and being favored.