Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:21

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern."

If you ask: What is the reality of His saying: {There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern (uswah)?} (And it is also recited as uswah with a ḍamma).

I say: There are two aspects to this:

1. The first: That he is, in himself, an excellent uswah—meaning a model (qudwah)—and he is the one to be followed (al-mutassā bihi), just as you say: "In this egg is twenty manns of iron," meaning it contains that amount of iron within itself.
2. The second: That he possesses a quality that deserves to be followed and emulated, which is his self-sacrifice (al-muwāsāh) with his own person.

{For whoever hopes in Allah} This is a substitute (badal) for "for you" (lakum), similar to His saying: {For those who were oppressed, for those who believed among them} (Al-Aʿrāf: 75).

{And the Last Day} "Hoping in Allah" is like saying "I hoped for Zayd and his favor," meaning Zayd’s favor, or it refers to hoping for the "Days of Allah." The Last Day is mentioned specifically. Hope (rajāʾ) here carries the meaning of both expectation (amal) and fear (khawf).

{And remembers Allah often} He linked hope with frequent acts of obedience and dedication to righteous deeds. The one who follows the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is the one who is like this.

{And when the believers saw the confederates, they said, "This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth." And it increased them only in faith and acceptance.}