| Al 'Imran: (91) Indeed, those who disbelieve...

Know that the disbeliever is of three types:

1. The one who repents from disbelief with a sincere, accepted repentance. This is what Allah Almighty mentioned in His saying: {Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds, for Allah is Forgiving and Merciful} (Al 'Imran: 89).
2. The one who repents from that disbelief with a false repentance. This is what Allah mentioned in the preceding verse, saying that his repentance will not be accepted.
3. The one who dies upon disbelief without any repentance whatsoever. This is the one mentioned in this verse.

Furthermore, Allah informed about these people in three ways:

The First Type:

His saying: {Then never will be accepted from any one of them an earth full of gold, even if he offered it for ransom.}

Al-Wahidi said: Mil'u (full) means the measure that fills something. Dhahaban (gold) is in the accusative case (nasb) as a Tamyīz (specification/elucidation). The meaning of Tamyīz is that the statement is complete but contains something ambiguous. For example, if you say, "I have twenty," the number is known, but the counted item is ambiguous. If you then say, "dirhams," you have specified the number. Similarly, if you say, "He is the most beautiful of people," you have informed about his beauty but not specified in what aspect. If you then say, "in face" or "in deed," you have specified and put it in the accusative case (nasb) because it has nothing to be lowered (khafḍ) or raised (raf') into. Since it lacks these, it is put in the accusative case because the accusative is the lightest of the diacritical marks, making it seem as if it has no governing agent.

The author of Al-Kashshāf said: Al-A'mash recited it as {dhahab} (nominative case, raf') in response to mil'u, similar to saying, "I have twenty people (men)."

Here are three questions:

Why was the preceding verse stated as {Never will be accepted} without a fā' (conjunction), while this verse states {Then never will be accepted} with a fā'?

Answer: The inclusion of the fā' indicates that the statement is built upon a conditional structure (if/then). In the absence of the fā', the statement is not understood as a condition and consequence. You say, "The one who came to me, he has a dirham." This does not imply that the dirham is due to his coming. But if you say, "The one who came to me, then he has a dirham," this implies that the dirham is due to his coming. Thus, the fā' in this verse indicates that the non-acceptance of the ransom is conditioned by dying upon disbelief.

What is the benefit of the wāw (and) in the phrase {even if he offered it for ransom}?

Answer: They mentioned several interpretations:

1. Al-Zajjāj said it is for conjunction ('aṭf). The meaning is: If he offered Allah an earth full of gold, it would not benefit him due to his disbelief. And if he offered it as a ransom from punishment, it would not be accepted from him either. Ibn al-Anbārī preferred this, stating it is stronger in emphasizing severity, as it explicitly negates acceptance from all aspects.
2. The wāw entered to clarify the details after a general statement. This is because {those who disbelieve, then never will be accepted from any one of them an earth full of gold} can imply many possibilities. Thus, it specifies the negation of acceptance specifically regarding the means of ransom.
3. This is a subtle point that occurred to me: If someone is angry with one of his slaves, and that slave presents him with a gift, he will absolutely not accept it. However, he might accept a ransom from him. But if he does not accept the ransom either, that signifies the utmost degree of anger. Exaggeration is achieved at that ultimate level. Therefore, Allah ruled that even an earth full of gold will not be accepted from them, even if offered as a ransom, to indicate that since it is not accepted this way, it is even more fitting that it is not accepted through other means.

It is known that the disbeliever will not possess even a speck (naqīr) or a date-seed fiber (qiṭmīr) on the Day of Resurrection. And it is known that even if he possessed gold, gold would certainly not benefit him in the Hereafter. So, what is the benefit of saying: {Then never will be accepted from any one of them an earth full of gold}?

Answer: There are two views:

1. If they die upon disbelief, even if they had spent an earth full of gold in this world, Allah would not accept it from them, because obedience coupled with disbelief is not accepted.
2. The statement is hypothetical ('alā sabīl al-farḍ). The meaning is: Gold is a metaphor for the most precious things. The meaning is: If the disbeliever on the Day of Resurrection could acquire the most precious things, and then could afford to spend them in extreme abundance, he would be incapable of using that to save himself from Allah's punishment. In summary, the objective is that they are utterly hopeless of saving themselves from punishment.

The Second Type:

One of the warnings mentioned in this verse is His saying: {And for them is a painful punishment.}

Know that when Allah Almighty explained that the disbeliever cannot save himself from punishment, He followed it by describing that punishment, saying: {And for them is a painful punishment}, meaning, one that causes pain.

The Third Type:

One of the warnings is His saying: {And they will have no helpers.}

The meaning is that when Allah explained that they have no escape from this painful punishment through ransom, He then explained that they also have no escape from it through support, aid, or intercession. Our colleagues (the scholars of our school of thought) can use this verse as evidence for establishing intercession (Shafā'ah). This is because Allah concluded the enumeration of warnings for the disbelievers by negating help and intercession. If this meaning applied to others besides the disbeliever, then the specificity of this warning to disbelief would be nullified. And Allah knows best.

7 < { You will never attain righteousness until you spend of what you love, and whatever you spend of anything - indeed, Allah is knowing of it. } > 7 !