Muhammad (the subject) is the Messenger of God (its predicate) and those who are with him, that is, his Companions from among the believers (wa’lladhīna ma‘ahu, [another] subject, the predicate of which [is the following, ashiddā’u]) are hard, tough, against the disbelievers, showing them no mercy [but], merciful among themselves (ruhamā’u is a second predicate [of wa’lladhīna ma‘ahu, ‘and those who are with him’]), that is to say, they show mutual sympathy and affection for one another, much like a father and a son. You see, you observe, them bowing, prostrating [in worship] (both rukka‘an and sujjadan are circumstantial qualifiers). They seek (yabtaghūna is the beginning of a new sentence) bounty from God and beatitude. Their mark (sīmāhum is a subject), their distinguishing feature, is on their faces (fī wujūhihim is its predicate): this is a light and a radiance by which, in the Hereafter, they will be recognised as having been those who used to prostrate in this world, from the effect of prostration (min athari’l-sujūdi is semantically connected to the same thing to which the predicate is semantically connected, that is to say, kā’inatan, ‘[this] being [from the effect of prostration]’; syntactically, it is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject [of kā’inatan], which is also the subject of the predicate [sc. wujūhihim, ‘their faces’]). That, mentioned description, is their description (mathaluhum is the subject) in the Torah (fī’l-tawrāti is the predicate thereof); and their description in the Gospel (wa-mathaluhum fī’l-injīli, is a subject, the predicate of which is [what follows]) is as a seed that sends forth its shoot (read shat’ahu or shata’ahu) and strengthens it (read āzarahu or azarahu), nourishing it and assisting it, and it grows stout and rises firmly, becoming strong and upright, upon its stalk, its roots (sūq is the plural of sāq), delighting the sowers, that is to say those who planted it, on account of its fairness. The Companions, may God be pleased with them, are being described in this way, for at the outset they were weak and very few in number; but then their number grew and they acquired strength in the most wholesome way, so that He may enrage the disbelievers by them (li-yaghīza bihimu’l-kuffāra is semantically connected to an omitted clause, which is suggested by what preceded, that is to say, ‘they are likened to this [so that God may enrage the disbelievers]’). God has promised those of them who believe and perform righteous deeds, the Companions (minhum, ‘of them’: min, ‘of’, is an indicator of the genus and not partitive, for they are all possessed of the mentioned attributes) forgiveness and a great reward — Paradise. Both of these [rewards] will also be given to those who will come after them, as is stated in other verses.