"Indeed, those who have believed and emigrated" — they are the Emigrants (Muhajirun) who abandoned their homelands and left them for their enemies for the sake of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic.
"And fought with their wealth" — by spending it on war mounts and weaponry, and expending it upon the needy among the Muslims, as well as themselves — "and their persons" — by directly engaging in combat, charging into battles, and wading into the depths of perils — "in the cause of Allah." It is said: this phrase relates to "fought," serving as a restriction for both types of struggle. It is also permissible for it to be a case of competitive agency between "emigrated" and "fought." Perhaps the prioritization of wealth over the self is because struggling with wealth occurs more frequently and is more complete in fulfilling needs, whereas struggling with the self is inconceivable without struggling with wealth. It is also said: the arrangement of these conjunctions in the verse follows the order of occurrence; for the first is belief, then emigration, then struggling with wealth for purposes such as preparing for war, then struggling with the self.
"And those who sheltered and aided" — they are the Helpers (Ansar), who sheltered the Emigrants, accommodated them in their homes, preferred them over their own selves, and aided them against their enemies.
"Those" — i.e., those mentioned and described with these virtuous qualities — is the subject (mubtada'). As for His saying: "are allies of one another," it is either an appositive (badal) to them, and the saying of the Exalted "are allies" is the predicate, or it is a second subject, and "allies" is its predicate, with the clause acting as the predicate for the first subject. This means: some of them are allies of others in inheritance, according to what is reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), Al-Hasan, Mujahid, Al-Suddi, and Qatadah. They stated: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) established brotherhood between the Emigrants and the Helpers (may Allah be pleased with them). Thus, an Emigrant would be inherited by his Helper brother if he had no Emigrant kin in Medina, and there was no inheritance between him and his Muslim relative who was not an Emigrant. Their affair continued in this manner until the conquest of Mecca, after which they inherited by blood relations since there was no longer emigration. Therefore, the alliance here refers to the inheritance resulting from a legal kinship. This verse is abrogated.
Al-Asam said: It is definitive (muhkam), and the intended meaning is alliance through support and mutual defense. It is as if he did not hear His saying: "Then you are obligated to aid" after denying their alliance in the following verse.
"And those who believed and did not emigrate" — like the rest of the believers — "you have no alliance with them" — meaning, in inheritance — "until they emigrate." At that point, the previous ruling is established for them. Hamza, Al-A'mash, and Yahya ibn Wathab read it as wilayatahum (with a kasra). Al-Asma'i claimed this was a mistake, but he is the mistaken one, for the recitation has been transmitted via multiple paths (tawatur). In the language, wilaya appears as a verbal noun with both fatha and kasra; they are two dialects for the same meaning, which is physical and abstract proximity, as has been said.
It is also said: there is a difference between them; the fatha refers to the alliance of lineage and the like, while the kasra refers to the alliance of authority (imara). This is attributed to Abu Ubaidah and Abu al-Hasan. Al-Zajjaj said: With fatha, it is support and lineage; with kasra, it is for sovereignty. It is reported that he held the view that because wilaya (authority) requires practice and training, it was likened to trades; thus, the kasra was used, as in imara. This is due to what the investigators among the linguists held: that fa'ala with a kasra in nouns denotes something that surrounds and is placed within something, like a wrapper (lifafa) or a turban (imama). In verbal nouns, it pertains to trades and what is practiced through work, like writing, tailoring, agriculture, and plowing.
What he mentioned regarding the analogy to trades could be from the perspective of the original linguistic legislator—meaning that when the legislator coined it, he likened it to those things, making it a literal meaning. Alternatively, it could be from someone else, following the pattern of saying "Zaid is a lion," in which case it is a metaphor. It is, as some of the great scholars said, an original metaphor because it occurs in the verbal noun rather than the derivative, even if the change is in the form rather than the substance. From this, it is known that the original metaphor is of two types: that which is figurative in its substance and that which is figurative in its form.
"And if they seek your help in religion, then you are obligated to aid" — meaning it is mandatory for you to support them against the polytheists, the enemies of Allah and your enemies — "except against a people" — among them — "between whom and yourselves is a treaty; so do not aid them against them, for that would be a violation of their treaty. And Allah is Seeing of what you do."
"Do not disobey His command, and do not transgress what He has set for you, so that His punishment may not descend upon you."
