al-Tawba 9:15-16

Wa yudhhib ghayẓa qulūbihim; wa yatūbu'llāhu ʿalā man yashāʾ; wa'llāhu ʿalīmun ḥakīm · Am ḥasibtum an tutrakū wa lammā yaʿlami'llāhu'lladhīna jāhadū minkum wa lam yattakhidhū min dūni'llāhi wa lā rasūlihī wa la'l-muʾminīna walīja; wa'llāhu khabīrun bimā taʿmalūn

"And remove the rage of their hearts. God accepts the turning back of whom He wills; God is knowing, wise. · Or did you suppose you would be left before God had distinguished those of you who strove, and who took no confidant apart from God, His Messenger and the believers? God is aware of what you do."

The close of the block must be recorded, and it is the word that gives the sūra its name.

The harshest block, sixteen verses long, closes with a sentence about the acceptance of a turning back.

I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the position of the sentence: at the end of the block it is stated that who, on the other side, will turn back is beyond this side's knowledge. Even as the ruling is being made final, that is, the possibility of stepping outside the ruling is left open.

The same close will be repeated in verse 27 as well, after the passage on Ḥunayn: thumma yatūbu'llāhu min baʿdi dhālika ʿalā man yashāʾ. Both blocks close with the same sentence. This is a weave that can be verified from the text.

The concrete sense of the root: to go inside a thing. Walaja — he entered; wulūj — entering. The root occurred in Sabaʾ at 34/2 (yaʿlamu mā yaliju fi'l-arḍ).

وَلِيجَة — the sense the lexicographers give: one slipped in between, one taken inside; a confidant, an intimate friend. The word states someone who is from outside and has been taken within.

I record this as an observation about the language: the word states a position — "one who has been taken inside." And the measure of the verse is not an identity but a choice of intimacy.

The same field will be opened again at 9/23-24, where eight ties are enumerated.

This pattern was treated in detail in al-ʿAnkabūt at 29/2 (a-ḥasiba'l-nāsu an yutrakū an yaqūlū āmannā wa hum lā yuftanūn), and the concept of testing was analysed there. I rely on that treatment and do not repeat it here.

The difference here must be recorded:

And the expression lammā yaʿlam must be recorded: lammā — "has not yet…". The verb is a verb of knowing, and this is a usage that has been debated in the Qurʾān. In the classical commentaries it is widely reported that this means "its coming out in act, its being distinguished". I convey this explanation and do not enter the theological debate.