When it became established - by what has passed of His power, glorified and exalted is He, over reward and punishment, and He lowered the earths and raised the heavens, and set forth the signs with clear, manifest verses - that there is no command for anyone other than Him, and it became clear that everyone is in His grasp, it resulted from that to say: "Is he who is standing (in prayer)..." And when standing indicates exaltation, He clarified it by saying: "over every soul"; that is, righteous and otherwise, "by what it has earned" - He does with it what He wills of giving and taking and other than that - like one who is not like that, such as their partners which have no standing over anything at all.

And when the answer is certainly: there is nothing like Him, it was as if it was said in astonishment at this question: Who has imagined that he has a likeness? It was said: those who disbelieved in Him, "and made for Allah"; that is, the greatest king, "partners". It is permissible to interpret for "from" a report of its meaning: they did not single Him out, and to connect it with "and made"; so it is as if it was said: So what will He do with them? It was said: "Say: Name them" with their true names, for when they name them and you know their realities that they are stones or other than that, which is the center of incapacity and the place of poverty, you will know what they are upon of the foolishness of minds and the weakness of opinions. Then say to them: Have you returned from that to the acknowledgment that they are among His servants? "Or do you inform Him"; that is, do you inform Him with a great informing "of what He does not know"; and His knowledge encompasses everything "in the earth" from its being gods with a decisive proof.

"Or with an outward saying"; that is, with a persuasive argument said with the mouth, and everything that He does not know is nothing. This is close to what has passed in His saying: "Or have they made for Allah partners who created like His creation" [Ar-Ra'd: 16], for if it were like that, there would be a resemblance in it of some appearance. And these methods are calling upon the creation with incapacity, and declaring that it is not from the words of the creation.

And when the estimation is: they have no decisive proof over anything of that nor an apparent saying, He built upon it His saying: "Rather, it has been adorned"; that is, the adornment occurred by the command of one whose command is not to be rejected by the hand of whoever was "for those who disbelieved"; that is, for them. And He expressed that as a warning of the description that led them to believe in falsehood, which is the concealment of what the proof of sound reason supported by the evidence of transmission led to. "Their plotting"; that is, their affair which they intended with what is intended by plotting, from the appearance of something and the concealment of another. And that is that they made their partners true gods, while they know the falsehood of that, and there is nothing in their inner selves except imitation of the fathers. And they made it appear that they worship them to draw closer to Allah, seeking intercession for them, or that they altered the face of truth with what they deceived the weak, and their state continued until they believed it to be true.

And the root [of مَكَرَ - makara] in any arrangement is: مَكَرَ, رَكَمَ, رَمَكَ, كَرَمَ, كَمَرَ; revolves around covering and concealment. So, مَكْرُ (makr) is deception. They said: it is the cunning that does not appear. When it appears, that is الكَيْدُ (al-kayd). It necessitates striving to gather the various aspects of the matter to conceal what is intended. From this gathering is the مَكْرُ (makr) which is the good covering of the leg, meaning its fullness. It also necessitates the fertility of the body and its blessings. Among it is مَكْرُ (makr) - a type of plant, and the singular is مَكْرَةٌ (makrah), named مَكْرَةً for its saturation. Abu Hanifah said: مَكْرُ (makr) is from the grass of summer, which is a gray herb that has no leaves. It grows in the plain and sand - as if it is likened to the leg for its lack of leaves or because of its grayness and nakedness like the concealed. And مَكْرُ (makr) is red clay likened to مَغْرَةِ (maghrah) - as if it is named so for what is in it of murkiness. And مِكَرَّةٌ (mikrah) from البَسْرِ (al-basar) is that which is not ripe but has tenderness - as if it is named so because of its color at that time taking on murkiness. And الرُّكَمُ (al-rukam) is the placing of something on top of something else; it is مَرْكُومٌ (markum) and رُكامٌ (rukam). The stacking of something - if some of it thickens on top of some of it, and that is a place of concealment. And الرُّكَمَةُ (al-rukamah) is the gathered clay and likewise the gathered dust. And it was said: and he cut off your path - meaning the way, because its dust has become thickened. And الرَّمَكُ (al-ramak) and الرُّمْكَةُ (al-rumkah) - with the ضَمّ (dham) - are from the colors of camels, and it is darker than the leaf; it is a color mixed with its dust and blackness, so it is أرْمَكُ (armak) - because it is a place of concealment for what is in it. From it is the derivation of الرَّامِكِ (al-ramik), which is mixtures mixed with musk to make sugar. And رَمَكَ (ramaka) the man with the مقامِ (maqam) - if he established himself with it, because he covers it with himself and his belongings and he conceals himself in it. And أرْمَكَتْ غَيْرِي (armakat ghayri) - if it compelled him to a place where he resides. And الرَّمَكَةُ (al-ramakah) is the female of the baradheen - a Persian horse, because it conceals the nobility of the Arab when it gives birth to it. And رَمْكانٌ (ramkan) is a known place - known knowledge. And it is said: رَمَكَ (ramaka) the man - if he became thin and what was in his hand went away, so he concealed it from him or he became concealed after being in a good state known. And رَمَكْتُ (ramaktu) the falcon and the hawk تَرْمِيكًا (tarmikan) - if I pointed to it with the bird because you have stripped it of the covering. And اليَرْمُوكُ (al-yarmuk) is a place with a great flame, concealing what is in it. And الكِرِيمُ (al-karim) is the opposite of اللَّئِيمِ (al-layim), and he is the stingy, lowly in soul. And الخَسِيسُ (al-khasis) of the fathers, so if he is miserly and these qualities do not gather for him, he is said to be بَخِيلٌ (bakhil), and he is not called لَئِيمٌ (layim). So الكَرِيمُ (al-karim) is then one who conceals the faults of morals by manifesting its virtues. And تَكَرَّمَ (takarrama) - if he distanced himself from baseness and elevated himself above it. The root of الكَرَمِ (al-karam) in language is: separation and elevation. So when they say: so-and-so is كَرِيمٌ (karim), they mean he is رَفِيعٌ (rafi') and virtuous. So الكَرَمُ (karam) necessitates the concealment of defects. And Allah is الكَرِيمُ (al-karim) meaning the virtuous and elevated - so said some of the people of language. And it was said: the one who pardons sins, and it was said: the one who does not boast when he gives. And when they say: so-and-so is the most generous of his people, they mean: he is the highest among them in status and the best among them in rank. And all of this necessitates [from it] generosity and the concealment of sins. And from this it is said: a horse is كَرِيمٌ (karim), and a tree is كَرِيمَةٌ (karimah) - if it is higher than its counterparts and better.

'Indeed, a noble book has been sent down to me.' [An-Naml: 29] That is, it is lofty and honorable. It is as if he has here referred to what is in it as merely a favor, likening it to the noble in part of its meaning. And I honored the man: each of us acted towards his companion in accordance with the demand of generosity. And generosity is the grapevine, and nothing else is called by it. And the vineyards are ornaments that women wear, like necklaces, indicating the worth of their owner. And honor is a plate placed on the head of love - for it is its covering, and nothing is covered except that which has a favor. And from it, they say: 'You have love and honor.' And generosity is the short one among men - as if it were likened to a plate of grain. And the kumrah - a mover: the end of a man's rod specifically, it was named so for covering the foreskin. And a man who is makmur - if the circumciser cuts his kumrah. And the two men takamara - if they boast of each other's kumrah. And it is said in the dictionary: and they takamara: they looked to see which of them has the greater kumrah. And the kumri: the moist one that has not been moistened on its tree, but has fallen ripe and has been moistened in the ground - as if it were named so because it is more turbid than what is moistened on the tree. And it also resembles the kumrah in its formation. And the kumri according to Ibn Durayd: the short man, as if he were likened to the moist one. And others said: it is the name of a place. And when he mentioned the beautification of their plot, he followed it with the indication of it, saying: 'And they were turned away' - that is, they adhered to what was beautified for them, or they plotted with it until they were led astray in themselves and turned others away 'from the path' which is not said to be a path for others, and that is the straight path. For other than it is injustice, confusion, and bewilderment, so it is nonexistence. Rather, nonexistence is better than it. So they did not follow the path, nor did they allow others to follow it. Thus, they went astray and led others astray. This is not surprising, for indeed Allah led them astray 'and whomever Allah leads astray' - that is, the one to whom belongs all command with the will of his misguidance 'then for him there is no guide.'