"And the recompense of an evil deed is an evil one like it" — meaning: what the polytheists do to them in terms of evil, they may perform upon them the same as what they have done.

Muhammad said: His saying: "And the recompense of an evil deed is an evil one like it." The first is an evil deed in both wording and meaning. The second is an evil deed in wording, yet its doer is not an evil-doer; rather, it is named an evil deed because it is a retaliation for an evil, following the custom of the Arabs in naming a thing by the name of another thing if it is caused by it.

"But whoever pardons and makes reconciliation" — he says: whoever abandons his claim to his grievance — "his reward" — his recompense — "is with Allah. Indeed, He does not like the wrongdoers," meaning the polytheists.