God is the Protector walī of the believers; [He is] the Protector walī in the sense of the One who takes charge of their affairs mutawallī and the One who is unique in settling their concerns. The faʿīl pattern of the word walī can [also] be understood in the passive maf ʿūl399-the believers are charged yatawallawna with obeying Him. Both [usages of the word] are correct. The first [way of understanding the word walī] is a gathering and the second is a separation. Not every gathering will be limited by a separation and not every separation will be supported by a gathering. That is an error and the one who makes it is wrong. The verse bears both of the meanings. He brings them forth from the shadows into the light. This means that by His beginningless decree He protected them from the shadows which are errors and [blameworthy] innovation for they were never in the shadows in His prior knowledge. And the disbelievers-their protectors are false deities [False deities] that entice them with calls to disbelief. that bring them forth from the light into the shadows; those are the inhabitants of the fire therein they shall abide. Through the doubt that overwhelmed their hearts they denied the lordship. They are those who remain forever apart from the Real. It is said He brings them forth from the shadows of their self-direction tadbīr to the spaciousness of witnessing His determination taqdīr of events. It is said that He brings them forth from the shadows of their thinking that they have any independent means or access to Him in anything they do or do not do. It is said that He brings them forth from the shadows by lifting the shade of their lower selves from them and bringing them into the shade of His solicitude. It is said that He delivers them from paying any heed to their own salvation. It is said that He comes between them and their reliance on their actions and dependence on their states.
