Tafsir of Al Imran 3:163-164

They are of varying ranks, just as degrees vary. It is like the poet’s saying: “I set up for death, they encounter it; are my men like the torrents’ paths?”

It is also said: "Possessors of degrees." The meaning is the disparity between the stations of those among them who are rewarded and those who are punished, or the disparity between the reward and the punishment.

He is All-Knowing of their deeds and their degrees, so He recompenses them according to them.

Meaning those who believed with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) from among his people. He specified the believers among them because they are the ones who benefit from his mission.

From their own kind, an Arab like them. It is also said: From the descendants of Ishmael, just as he (the Prophet) is from his descendants.

If you ask: "What is the aspect of the favor upon them in his being from among themselves?" I say: When he is from among them, the language is one, making it easy to receive what they must receive from him. They were also aware of his circumstances regarding truthfulness and trustworthiness, which made it closer for them to believe in him and trust him. Furthermore, his being from among themselves is an honor for them, as in His saying: "And indeed, it is a remembrance for you and your people" (Az-Zukhruf: 44).

In the recitation of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the recitation of Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), it is read as "from their anfus (most noble)," meaning from the most noble among them. This is because Adnan is the peak of the descendants of Ishmael, Mudar is the peak of Nizar bin Ma'ad bin Adnan, Khandaf is the peak of Mudar, Mudrikah is the peak of Khandaf, Quraysh is the peak of Mudrikah, and the peak of Quraysh is Muhammad (ﷺ).

In the sermon Abu Talib gave at the marriage of Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her), while the Banu Hashim and the leaders of Mudar were present, he said: "Praise be to Allah who made us of the progeny of Ibrahim, the seed of Ishmael, the essence of Ma'ad, and the lineage of Mudar. He made us the guardians of His House and the administrators of His Sanctuary. He gave us a house that is visited and a sanctuary that is secure, and He made us the rulers over the people. Then, this nephew of mine, Muhammad bin Abdullah, no youth of Quraysh is weighed against him but that he outweighs him. By Allah, he has a great message and a momentous status."

It is also recited: "Allah has conferred a favor upon the believers when He sent among them..." This has two interpretations:

1. It is in the place of a nominative, like idha (when) in your saying: "The prince is most eloquent when he is standing," meaning: Allah conferred a favor upon the believers at the time of his mission.

After they had been people of ignorance, to whose ears nothing of revelation had ever reached.

He cleanses them from the filth of hearts caused by disbelief, and the impurity of the rest of the limbs caused by engaging in forbidden acts and other vices. It is also said: He takes the Zakat (alms) from them.

The Quran and the Sunnah, after they had been the most ignorant of people and the furthest from studying the sciences.

Before the mission of the Messenger.

The in is the lightened form of the heavy inna, and the lam is the separator between it and the negative la. The estimation is: "The matter and the affair were that they were previously in error."

Clear, with no doubt in it.