His words, Exalted is He:

I swear by this city,

He said:

That is, Mecca.

and you have free disposal of this city;

This means: ‘On the day of the conquest of Mecca, We made it legitimate for you, so that you could kill whomever you wished among the disbelievers’, just as the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘It was never made legitimate for anyone before, nor will it be made legitimate to anyone after me. However, it was made legitimate for me just for one hour in a day.’^{1Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, ‘Kitāb al-Janāʾiz’.}

God, Exalted is He, swore by Mecca due to the fact that His Prophet resided there, as a way of honouring him and humiliating his enemies.

and [by] the parent and offspring,

He said:

Parent refers to Adam and offspring refers to Muḥammad ﷺ.^{1See above, IT, p. xxxii, Tustarī’s commentary on 2:5 and p. 15, n. 17.}

We certainly created man in travail (kabad).

That is, in [a state of] difficulty (mashaqqa) and hardship (shidda).

He [also] said:

Kabad also means erectness (intiṣāb) — that is, ‘We have created him in the belly [of his mother] keeping him erect’. This resembles Mujāhid’s saying: ‘The child sits in the belly of its mother in a upright position corresponding to the uprightness of the mother,^{1i.e. with its head upwards.} and an angel is delegated, when the mother lies on her side, to raise up the child’s head and if it was not for that it would drown in blood.’

His words, Exalted is He:

and given him guidance [concerning] the two paths? ^{1Verses 8–10 make up a rhetorical question: Have We not given him two eyes and a tongue, and two lips and given him guidance concerning the two paths?}

He said:

‘We have clearly shown him the path of goodness that he may follow it, and the path of evil that he may avoid it’, just as He said, Verily We have guided him to the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful [76:3]. It has also been said [that it refers to] management and devising (tadbīr).^{2Sic in both the published edition and all the MSS. Possibly it could mean either: He [God] showed them the way of submitting the management [of their affairs] to Him (this being the guidance); or it could be that the servant’s being grateful or ungrateful means his either relinquishing everything to God’s care or taking upon himself the management of his affairs.}

His words, Exalted is He:

Yet why does he not attempt the obstacle?

He said:

That is, ‘Will he not cross the Traverse (ṣirāṭ) and the obstacle (ʿaqaba) which is before it?’ In its inner meaning there are two obstacles. One of them is the sins that he has committed, which stand before him like a mountain and which he can only traverse by setting a slave free, or feeding someone who is either destitute (miskīn), or totally abject^{1lit. ‘cleaves to the earth’.} from exertion (jahd) and deprivation (fāqa), or an orphan who is related to him, on a day of hunger (majāʿa) and hardship (shidda).^{2This is probably an allusion to verse 14, which commands the giving of food on a day of hunger, which is how the word masghaba has been translated. In fact, MS F638, f. 66a has yawm dhī masghaba ay majāʿa wa shidda. If we take this to be correct, then the commentary is acting as an interpretation of the words yawm dhī masghaba, which occur in verse 14. There is also in the commentary an allusion forward to verse 15, the giving to an orphan of kin.}

The other obstacle is gnosis (maʿrifa), which the mystic is incapable of attaining, unless it be that, with [the assistance of] the power (ḥawl) and strength (quwwa) of God, he emancipates the slave of his soul from desire.

or to give food on a day of hunger,

in order to uphold what is demanded by your faith, not by way of any oppression (ẓulm) or transgression (ṭughyān) that is for the pleasure of your natural self (nafs al-ṭabʿ).^{1Perhaps what is meant by ‘oppression’ (ẓulm) here is the wronging of one’s self, by giving, for example, in an ostentatious manner. The same verbal root (ẓ-l-m) is used concerning Adam and Eve in 7:23: They said, ‘Lord we have wronged ourselves’ (qālā, Rabbanā ẓalamnā anfusanā).}

or [give food] to an orphan of kin (dhā maqraba)

The orphan here refers to the heart (qalb), and its food is fidelity (wafāʾ). The destitute person (miskīn) refers to the mystic who is bewildered (mutaḥayyir) ⸢and grieving (ḥazīn)⸣.^{1Added on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 134b, F638, f. 66a and F3488, f. 317a.} His food consists of [divine] graces (alṭāf).^{2That is, according to MSS Z515, f. 134b, F3488, f. 317a and the published edition. MS F638, f. 66a, however, has fāqa (deprivation).} [Such a one] is in a state of proximity in ‘the eyes of’ God (dhā maqraba ʿinda’Llāh), but in a state of need and misery (dhā ‘l-matraba) in the eyes of people [90:16].^{3The expression (dhā matraba) [90:16] is related to the expression lazq al-turāb, which Tustarī has used above, meaning literally ‘cleaving or clinging to the dust’. Those who appear to others to be deprived and are outwardly so, are inwardly wealthy and close to God.}

His words, Exalted is He:

(while being one of those who believe and who) enjoin one another to steadfastness and enjoin one another to compassion.

He said:

That is, steadfastness (ṣabr) in keeping God’s commandments, and in being compassionate with people.

The Messenger of God ﷺ was once asked, ‘What is Islam?’ He replied, ‘It is patience (ṣabr) and magnanimity (samāḥ).’ Then he was asked, ‘What is faith?’ He replied, ‘Goodness in speech (ṭayyib al-kalām), and offering [others] food.’

Sahl said:

The best speech (aṭyab al-kalām) is the remembrance (dhikr) of God, Exalted is He.

Those are the people of the Right Hand.^{1Those being the people who were described in the two previous verses as being among the ones who: enjoin one another to steadfastness [90:17] and enjoin one another to compassion [90:18].}

That is, those who have kept themselves safe^{2lit. ‘favoured themselves’. The printed text has muyāminūn whereas the MSS have mayāmīn (probably as the plural of maymūn) ʿalā anfusihim.} from the horrors (ahwāl) of that Day.^{3i.e. the Day of Judgement.} They have no [sensory] perception other than of Him (lā yuḥissūna dūnahu), just as they were in this world; [thus they attain] life with Life itself (ḥayāt bi-ḥayāt), eternity with Eternity itself (azaliyya bi-azaliyya), and a mystery with Mystery itself (sirr bi-sirr).^{4This resembles closely the commentary on 89:28, which spoke of: ‘life with Life itself and permanent subsistence with Permanent Subsistence itself’.} But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.