Tafsir of Al-Fath 48:9

The address is directed to the Prophet ﷺ and his nation, similar to His (Exalted is He) saying: "O Prophet, when you [plural] divorce women." It is a case of taghlib (predominance), where the addressee is made predominant over the absent, implying that the Prophet ﷺ is addressed to believe in his own messengership to the nation, which is indeed the case.

Al-Wahidi said: The address in "We have sent you" is to the Prophet ﷺ, while in "that you may believe" it is to his nation. Accordingly, if the lam (in li-tu’minu) is for causation (ta’lil), then the caused matter is omitted; i.e., "We did that sending so that you may believe in Allah and do such and such." Or, it may be a command in the manner of "then let them rejoice in that" according to the reading with the ta (the second person tu’minu). It is said this carries the meaning of "Say to them: Believe..." Others say it is for the nation, as the address to the Prophet ﷺ is placed in the position of an address to them; it is, in effect, a claim.

The lam is connected to "We have sent you." One cannot object to this with what Al-Radi and others established—that it is impossible to address two parties in a single statement without a conjunction, dual form, or plural form—because, after the placement, there is no multiplicity. It is also permitted that this is because they [the nation] are not truly being addressed in reality; thus, addressing them is in the ruling of the absent. It is also said that the aforementioned impossibility is conditional upon each of the two addressed parties being independent; however, if one of them is included in the address of the other, there is no impossibility, as is known from examining their discourse. In that case, it is permissible that the address to the nation be intended as well, without taghlib. This discussion is lengthy, and what was mentioned previously is safe from controversy.

{وتعزروه}: meaning, that you may support him, as narrated from Jabir ibn Abdullah in a marfu’ (elevated) hadith, and a group narrated it from Qatadah. The pronoun refers to Allah (the Mighty and Majestic), and His support (Exalted is He) is through the support of His religion and His Messenger ﷺ.

{وتوقروه}: meaning, that you may honor him, as Qatadah and others said. The pronoun also refers to Him (Exalted is He). It is said that both pronouns refer to the Messenger ﷺ, and this is narrated from Ibn Abbas. Some claim that the pronoun in ta’zuruhu must refer to the Messenger ﷺ, due to the misapprehension that ta’zir (support/strengthening) cannot be directed toward Allah (Exalted is He), just as it is necessary for everyone that the pronoun in His saying {وتسبحوه} (and glorify Him) refers to Allah (Exalted is He). It is not hidden that it is better for the two previous pronouns to also refer to Allah (Exalted is He), so as not to necessitate the decoupling of pronouns without necessity.

{وتسبحوه}: meaning, declare Allah (Exalted is He) free of imperfection, or perform prayer for Him (Exalted is He) from the word subha.

{بكرة وأصيلا}: meaning in the early morning and in the evening. The intent is their literal meanings, or the entire day, as the two extremes of a thing are used to denote the whole, just as saying "east and west" is used for the entire world. From Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), it refers to the dawn prayer, the noon prayer, and the afternoon prayer.

Abu Ja’far, Abu Haywah, Ibn Kathir, and Abu ‘Amr read the four verbs—that is, "that you may believe" and what follows—with the ya of the third person. Ibn Mas’ud and Ibn Jubayr read it similarly, except that they read {ويسبحوا الله} with the Majestic Name instead of the pronoun.

Al-Jahdari read {تعزروه} with the ta having a fathah and the za having a damma, in the light form. In one narration from him, it is read with the ta having a fathah and the za having a kasrah, in the light form; this is also narrated from Ja’far al-Sadiq (may Allah be pleased with him). It was also read with the ta having a damma and the za having a kasrah, in the light form.

Ibn Abbas and Muhammad ibn al-Yamani read {تعززوه} with two zas, from al-‘izza (might/honor), meaning: that you make him mighty, which, in relation to Him (Exalted is He), is by making His religion and His Messenger ﷺ such. It was also read {وتوقروه} from awqara, meaning waqqarahu (he honored him).