"And if they had stood fast by the Torah, the Gospel, and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they would have consumed [provisions] from above them and from beneath their feet."
Qatadah said: It means: The heaven would have given them its rain, and the earth its vegetation. Their standing fast by the Torah and the Gospel means: that they should believe in Muhammad, for they had been commanded to do so.
His saying: "Among them are a moderate [or balanced] nation," meaning: followers. He means: those who believed from the People of the Scripture in the Messenger of Allah and in what he brought. "And a great deal of them, evil is what"—meaning how wretched is that which—"they do," meaning: those among them who remained firm upon Judaism and Christianity.
Surah Al-Ma'idah from verse (67) to verse (69).
﴿وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ أَقَامُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ لأَكَلُوا مِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ وَمِنْ تَحْتِ أَرجُلهم﴾.
قَالَ قَتَادَةُ: يَعْنِي: لَأَعْطَتْهُمُ السَّمَاءُ مَطَرَهَا، وَالْأَرْضُ نَبَاتَهَا. وَإِقَامَتُهُمُ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ: أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِمُحَمَّدٍ؛ لِأَنَّهُمْ قَدْ أُمِرُوا بِذَلِكَ.
قَوْلُهُ: ﴿مِنْهُمْ أمة مقتصدة﴾ أَيْ: مُتَّبِعَةٌ؛ يَعْنِي: مَنْ آمَنَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ، وَبِمَا جَاءَ بِهِ ﴿وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ سَاءَ مَا﴾ بئس مَا ﴿يعْملُونَ﴾ يَعْنِي: مَنْ ثَبَتَ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى الْيَهُودِيَّة والنصرانية.
سُورَة الْمَائِدَة من الْآيَة (٦٧) إِلَى الْآيَة (٦٩).
