Al-Baqarah: 249
"So when Talut set out..."
"Set out" (faṣala): It is said of one who departs from a place and passes beyond it. Its origin is "he separated himself," then the object was frequently omitted until it became like an intransitive verb, similar to infaṣala (to separate). It is also said: "He departed from the land" (faṣala ‘an al-balad), and it is permissible to say faṣalahu faṣlan and faṣala fuṣūlan, like waqafa and ṣadda and their likes. The meaning is: he departed from his land.
"With the soldiers": It is narrated that he said to his people: "No man shall accompany me who has begun building a structure and has not finished it, nor a merchant preoccupied with trade, nor a man married to a woman with whom he has not yet consummated the marriage. I seek only the energetic, unencumbered youth." Eighty thousand of those he chose gathered to him. The time was one of intense heat, and they traveled through a desert. They asked that God cause a river to flow for them.
"He said: 'Indeed, God is testing you'": By the river you requested.
"So whoever drinks from it": Whoever begins his drinking from the river by lapping from it with his mouth.
"Then he is not of me": He is not connected to me nor united with me. It is from the saying: "So-and-so is of me," as if he were a part of him due to their mixing and unity. It is also permissible that it means: "He is not of my group and my followers."
"And whoever does not taste it": Whoever does not sip it. Ṭa‘m (taste) is used for tasting something; from this is ṭa‘m al-shay’ (the taste of a thing) for its flavor. He said:
(And if you wish, I will not taste cool water nor sleep)
Do you not see how he coupled "coolness" (sleep) with it? It is said: "I did not taste ghumāḍan (sleep)." This is a trial similar to that with which God tested the people of Ailah regarding the prohibition of fishing despite the fish appearing openly; indeed, this is more severe and difficult. Talut knew this through information from the Prophet. If he was a prophet—as some narrate—then it was by revelation. It is recited as bi-nahrin with a sukūn (on the hā).
If you ask: From what is the phrase "except for one who scoops" excepted?
I say: From the phrase "So whoever drinks from it, then he is not of me." The second sentence is in the position of being later, but it was brought forward for emphasis, just as "and the Sabians" (Al-Ma'idah: 69) was brought forward in the verse: "Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Sabians..." Its meaning is a concession to scoop with the hand rather than lapping with the mouth. The evidence for this is his saying: "So they drank from it"—meaning, they lapped from it.
"Except for a few of them": It is recited as ghurfatun with a fatḥah (meaning the act of scooping) and with a ḍammah (meaning the thing scooped). Ubayy and al-A‘mash recited illā qalīlun in the nominative case. This is from their inclination toward the meaning while turning away from the literal wording, which is a noble chapter of Arabic grammar. Since the meaning of "So they drank from it" is in the sense of "they did not obey him," it was carried upon that, as if it were said: "They did not obey him, except for a few of them." Similar to this is the saying of al-Farazdaq:
(...he left nothing of the wealth except a wiped-out or destroyed portion)
As if he said: "Nothing of the wealth remained except a wiped-out or destroyed portion." It is said that only three hundred and thirteen men remained with Talut.
"And those who believed": Meaning the few.
"Those who were certain said": Meaning the sincere among them, who set the meeting with God before their eyes and were certain of it. Or, those who were certain that they would soon be martyred and meet God. The believers differ in the strength of their certainty and the clarity of their insight. It is said that the pronoun in "they said" refers to the many who were discouraged, and "those who were certain" are the few who stood firm with him; as if they were debating this while the river was between them. The former group shows their excuse for being discouraged, and the latter group refutes the excuse they offer. It is narrated that one scoop was sufficient for a man to drink and fill his water skin, and those who drank from it had their lips turn black and were overcome by thirst.
When they faced Goliath and his soldiers, they said: "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people." So they defeated them by the permission of God, and David killed Goliath, and God gave him kingship and wisdom and taught him from that which He willed. And if it were not for God checking [some] people by means of others, the earth would have been corrupted, but God is full of bounty to the worlds.
