ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ
Certainly was Allah pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you, [O Muhammad], under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquillity upon them and rewarded them with an imminent conquest
Tafsir
Verse range: 48:18
It should be noted that obedience to each of them (Allah and the Messenger) is obedience to the other. Thus, they were mentioned together to clarify the obedience due to Allah.
If Allah, the Exalted, had said only: "And whoever obeys Allah," some people might have argued, "We do not see Allah, nor do we hear His speech, so how do we know His command to obey Him?" Therefore, obedience to Him is manifested in obedience to His Messenger, and His words are heard through the Messenger.
Then He said: {And whoever turns away} meaning with his heart. After explaining the state of those who held back (by not participating in the pledge) following His statement {Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are only pledging allegiance to Allah} (Al-Fath: 10), He returned to clarify their situation and said: {Allah has certainly pleased the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts} of sincerity, just as He knew the sickness in the hearts of the hypocrites. {So He sent down tranquility upon them}, so they pledged allegiance even unto death.
There is a subtle meaning here: Before this verse, Allah, the Exalted, said: {And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him to Gardens} (Al-Fath: 17), making obedience to Allah and the Messenger a sign for admission to Paradise in that verse. In this verse, He clarified that the obedience to Allah and the Messenger was indeed found in the people of the Pledge of Allegiance (Bay'at al-Ridwan).
As for the obedience to Allah, it is indicated by His statement: {Allah has certainly pleased the believers}. As for the obedience to the Messenger, it is indicated by His statement: {when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree}. What remains is the promised reward, which is admission to Paradise, alluded to by His statement, the Exalted: {Allah has certainly pleased the believers}, because pleasure (Ridwan) necessarily entails admission to Paradise, as Allah the Exalted says: {And He will admit them into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever—that is the great attainment. Allah is pleased with them} (Al-Mujadila: 22).
Then Allah, the Exalted, said: {and He knew what was in their hearts}. The conjunction Fa (so/then) indicates immediate succession. Allah knew before the pleasure, because He knew the sincerity in their hearts, so He was pleased with them. How then can the succession implied by Fa be understood in the context of knowledge?
We say that His statement {and He knew what was in their hearts} is connected to His statement {when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree}, similar to how one might say, "I was happy yesterday when Zayd spoke to me, and then he stood up for me," or, "when I entered upon him, he honored me." In this case, the happiness follows the honoring as a sequence. Similarly, here, Allah, the Exalted, said: {Allah has certainly pleased the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts} of sincerity. This indicates that the pleasure was not merely at the time of the pledge, but at the pledge that was accompanied by Allah's knowledge of their sincerity.
The Fa in His statement {So He sent down tranquility upon them} indicates the immediate succession mentioned earlier, for He was pleased with them, and then He sent down tranquility upon them. The knowledge serves to describe the pledge as being immediately followed by the knowledge of the sincerity in their hearts. This is a success that only those whom Allah has guided to the meanings of His Noble Book can attain.
His statement, the Exalted: {And He rewarded them with an imminent victory} refers to the conquest of Khaybar. {And abundant spoils which they will take}—their spoils, or the spoils of the settlements (Hajar), according to some opinions. {And Allah is Ever All-Mighty}—possessing perfect power, independent of your aid to Him. {Wise}—in making the destruction of His enemies occur at your hands so that He may reward you for it, or because this involves honoring one group and humiliating another, for He humiliates whom He wills by His Might and honors whom He wills by His Wisdom.
