Overall meaning : Allah declares that the punishment of those who wage war against Him and His Messenger—by professing unbelief, opposing them, showing enmity to them and disobeying their commands—and hasten to spread corruption in the land through the commission of sins—by terrorising and openly waylaying people, usurping their wealth and violating the sanctity of their life and property—is that they should be killed or crucified, have their right hands and their left feet cut off, or be banished to another country. Such punishment is meant as disgrace to them in this world, and in the world to come they will suffer a grievous punishment, namely the punishment of Hell.
Of these, Allah makes an exception for those who turn to Him in repentance and desist from opposing Him and His Messenger and spreading corruption in the land before those in authority seize them and have them in their power. He draws the believers’ attention to the fact that if these offenders come to them repentant and give themselves up, then they must remember that He is All-Forgiving—as He will forgive them and not punish them for their sins, neither in this world nor in the hereafter—and that He is All-Merciful—as He will show them mercy and not mete out punishment to them.