{وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّا نَصَارَى أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَهُمْ}

This marks the commencement of an exposition regarding the vile deeds and crimes of the Christians, following the exposition regarding the vile deeds and crimes of their brethren, the Jews. The prepositional phrase "from those" (min al-ladhina) is connected to "We took" (akhadhna). The fronting of the prepositional phrase serves to emphasize it, and because mentioning one of the two factions inevitably plants the question in the listener's mind: "What of the state of the other?" It is as if it were said: "And from the other faction, too, We took their covenant." The genitive pronoun refers back to the relative pronoun (al-ladhina) or returns to the Children of Israel to whom the preceding pronouns refer. It is analogous to saying: "I took from Zayd the covenant of ‘Amr," meaning: a covenant like his.

It is permissible for the prepositional phrase to be connected to a deleted predicate of a deleted subject, and the sentence "We took" is an attributive clause. That is: "And among those who said 'We are Christians' is a people from whom We took their covenant." It is also said that the deleted subject is the relative noun or the described noun. It is not hidden that the permissibility of deleting a relative pronoun while keeping its adjunct is a position held only by the Kufans.

The Almighty said: "They said 'We are Christians'," and He, the Majestic and Exalted, did not say "And from the Christians," as is the apparent sense, without any redundancy, to hint—as some have stated—that they are upon the religion of Christianity by their own claim, while they are not truly upon it, due to their failure to act in accordance with its requirements and their opposition to the glad tidings concerning our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) contained in the Gospel.

It is also said: It is to indicate that they gave themselves this title, meaning that they were the "helpers" (ansar) of God the Almighty, while their actions demand the support of Satan. Thus, the deviation from the apparent form allows this state to be envisioned in the mind of the listener and establishes that they claimed to support God the Almighty while being far removed from that. The subtlety in specifying this position by attributing "Christianity" to their claim is that, since the purpose in this verse is to condemn them for violating the covenant taken from them regarding the support of God the Almighty, it was appropriate to begin the speech with that which indicates that they did not support God the Almighty and did not fulfill the support they pledged. Their affair amounted to nothing more than uttering the claim and stating it without acting upon it.

It is not hidden that this is based on the idea that the reason for their being called "Nazarenes" (nasara) is their being the "helpers" of God the Almighty, which is a famous view; hence, they are also called Ansar (Helpers). In more than one place, it is stated that Jesus (peace be upon him) was born in the year 304 of the era of Alexander's victory, in Bethlehem of Jerusalem. Then his mother (peace be upon her) traveled with him to Egypt. When he reached twelve years of age, she returned with him to the Levant, and he resided in a town called Nazareth (al-Nasira) or Nasuriyya, and it is from there that the "Nazarenes" (Nasara) were named and attributed. It is also said that it is the plural of Nasran, like nadama and nadman, or the plural of Nasri, like Mahri and Mahari. Nasraniyya and Nasrana are synonymous with Nasara. Nasraniyya also refers to their religion. It is said of them: Nasara and Ansar, and whoever enters their religion is tanasara.

"...then they forgot" — following the taking of the covenant — "...a portion" — a plentiful share — "...of what they were reminded" — within the contents of the covenant, regarding belief in God the Almighty and other religious obligations. It is also said: It is what was written for them in the Gospel regarding belief in the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace), which they cast behind their backs, followed their own whims, and split into seventy-two sects.

"...so We provoked" — that is, We compelled and attached. Its origin is attachment. It is said: "I became attached (gharita) to the man," meaning I stuck to him; al-Asma’i said this. Others said: "I became attached to him with ghara’an (with a prolongation)." "I provoked (aghraytu) Zayd to such a thing until he became attached to it." From this comes ghara’ (glue) with which things are stuck together. His statement, the Almighty: "...among them..." is an adverb for "We provoked" or connected to a deleted word acting as a state for its object, meaning: "We provoked enmity and hatred to exist among them." Abu al-Baqa’ said: There is no way to make it an adverb for both because the verbal noun does not govern what precedes it. You know that some allow this if the governed element is an adverb.

His statement, the Almighty: "...until the Day of Resurrection" — is either the limit for the provocation or for the enmity and hatred; meaning they will remain in enmity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection, according to what their differing whims and deviant opinions necessitate, leading to the splitting into many sects, among them the Nestorians, the Jacobites, and the Melkites. Discourse on them has already passed. The pronoun in "among them" refers to the Christians, as narrated from al-Rabi’, and it was chosen by al-Zajjaj and al-Tabari. It is also narrated from al-Hasan and a group of exegetes that it returns to the Jews and the Christians.

"...and God will inform them of what they used to do" — in this world, regarding the breaking of the covenant and the forgetting of the plentiful share of what they were reminded. The speech is framed as a severe threat of retribution and punishment. "Informing" is a metaphor for the occurrence of that and its uncovering to them, not that there is actual news-giving there. The subtlety in expressing it as "informing" is to convey that they do not know the reality of the bad deeds they commit and their consequences in punishment; thus, the ordering of punishment upon them, in terms of causing them to know the reality of their state, is equivalent to informing them of it. The shift to mentioning the Majestic Name is for reasons mentioned repeatedly. Expressing the action as "creation" (san’) is to signify their persistence in it. "Will" (sawfa) is for the confirmation of the threat.