Tafsir of Al-Balad 90:17

This is conjoined to the negated verb—that is, "he has not overcome" (la yaqtahim). It is as if it were said: "He has neither overcome, nor has he believed." It does not necessitate that 'belief' is excluded from the concept of the "steep path" (al-'aqabah), for it suffices for the validity of the conjunction and the repetition that it is a part—an honorable part—which has been singled out for mention through the conjunction. Thus, the form of repetition appears, for interpretation otherwise would be corrupting to the meaning; it would necessitate, for instance, the admissibility of saying "Zayd did not eat and drink" while intending a conjunction to the negation, which some predecessors forbid.

It has been said that "not" (la) is for supplication, and the speech is an invocation against him: that Allah (Exalted is He) may not grant him that good. It has also been said that "not" is the shortened form of "is not" (ala), used for exhortation like "would not" (hala), as if to say: "Would that he had overcome [the steep path]!" Alternatively, the interrogative is omitted, the estimate being: "Would he not then overcome?" This has been reported from Ibn Zayd, al-Jubba'i, and Abu Muslim. However, it is known that shortening the exhortative ala is rare, and as al-Murtada said, the omission of the interrogative particle in such a position is considered ugly. Umar ibn Abi Rabi'ah was criticized for his saying: Then they said, "Do you love her?" I said, "By the number of sand, pebbles, and earth!"

Others argue that if negation were intended, the speech would not connect to anything, due to the appearance of "was" (kana) under the negation and the connection of the speech to it. It has been said that the speech is a report regarding the future, and therefore it is not a case where repetition is mandatory; that is, "he will not overcome the steep path," for his past is known by observation, so it is more important to inform about his state in the future. To ensure the certainty of the occurrence, the past tense was used. Al-Tayyibi reported from Abu Ali al-Farisi that the repetition of the particle is not obligatory, refuting al-Zajjaj in his claim. He said, "They are words," and repetition in such phrases as "he did not verify and he did not pray" does not indicate obligation, just as in "they did not exceed the limits and they did not stint." Upon the lack of repetition rests the saying of Umayyah mentioned previously: If You forgive, O Allah, You forgive abundantly; and what servant of Yours does not commit a fault?

The certainty I hold is that repetition is the majority usage, but its obligatoriness is not certain. And Allah (Exalted is He) knows best.

Ibn Kathir and the two grammarians [of Kufa, i.e., Hamzah and al-Kisa'i] read fakka (to free) as a past tense verb, and raqabatan (a slave) in the accusative, or [conjoined to] at'ama (to feed), also a past tense verb. According to this reading, fakka is substituted for yaqtahim (overcome), and what is between them is parenthetical. Its meaning is that you have not realized the essence of its difficulty to the soul, nor the essence of its reward with Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He). Abu Raja' read it similarly, except that he read dha masbaghah (one of hunger) with an alif, where dha is in the accusative as the object of at'ama—that is, "he fed, on one of the days, a person of hunger, an orphan in place of him or as an adjective to him." He, as well as al-Hasan, also read aw it'amu (or the feeding) with an alif, treating it as the object of the verbal noun. Some of the Tabi'un read fakka raqabatin in the genitive [construct state], or at'ama as a past tense verb, which is conjoined to the verbal noun [in the previous verses] by interpreting it as such.

The delay implied by "then" (thumma) in His saying "Then he was..." is of rank; for belief is above all that preceded it, because it is accepted as the means for salvation and gratitude even without deeds, as in the case of one who believes in its conditions and dies on that same day before any deeds were incumbent upon him; for that belief benefits him and saves him. This is unlike anything else, which is not counted without belief.

His saying (Glory be to Him): "...and then becomes one of those who believed and encouraged each other to patience" is conjoined to "believed"—that is, they encouraged one another to patience in faith and steadfastness upon it, or to patience in obedience, or patience in avoiding sins and in the trials with which a person is afflicted. "And encouraged each other to mercy" means mercy upon His (Mighty and Majestic is He) servants. Included in this is the commanding of good and forbidding of evil, or encouraging each other to the causes of Allah's mercy and the good deeds that lead to it, provided that "mercy" (marhamah) is a metaphor for its cause or that the speech is based on an omitted genitive. It has been mentioned that encouraging each other to patience is a sign of glorifying the command of Allah (Exalted is He), and encouraging each other to mercy is a sign of compassion for the creation of Allah (Exalted is He). These are two foundations upon which the orbit of obedience turns. This is what some investigators have said: "The foundation of Sufism is a matter: to be truthful with the Truth (Allah) and compassionate with the creation."