And when He clarified - glorified and exalted is He - after expressing amazement at their denial of resurrection, the ignorance of man; and what he is upon of misguidance and forgetfulness; except for whom He has favored over the children of his kind; as He has favored his clay over all other clay. And He concluded with the verse of similarity; from which is the similarity of some souls to others; and their similarity to the natures; and it became clear by that that He - glorified and exalted is He - is capable of doing what He wills; knowledgeable of all that is known; He returned to expressing amazement at them with what pertains to the souls, which are characterized by similarity. So He said (exalted is He) - connecting to ﴿“And they said, 'When we have become bones...'﴾ -: ﴿And they ask you﴾; meaning: out of obstinacy; and as a test; ﴿about the soul﴾; which has been previously stated that it will be returned to their bodies on the Day of Resurrection; even if they were stones; or iron: what is it? Is it a body; or not? And is it generated from the mixture of the natures that are in the body; or is its mixture initiated? And is it ancient; or newly created? And when that was obstinacy; while it is not necessary for the correctness of their belief; He commanded him to answer them about it with what is appropriate for their condition; by saying (exalted is He): ﴿Say, 'The soul'﴾; meaning: this type by which bodies become alive; ﴿is from the command of my Lord﴾; He attributed it to the command; which is the will; and although it is part of His creation; it is an honor for it; and an indication that there is no cause other than Him that mediates between it and His command; rather, He creates it from nothing; or it can be said - and this is better - that creation is of two types: what is caused; and developed; and evolved; and this is what is translated in the Qur'an as creation; and the second is what is brought forth from nothing without cause; or development; and this is expressed by the command; and from it is this soul that is asked about; and every soul in the Qur'an; and likewise what is for preservation; and management; such as religions; and the unifying factor for that is the sustaining nature; as has been mentioned from Al-Harali regarding the spirit of the Holy Spirit; in 'Al-Baqarah'; and this expression indicates that it is newly created; and that it is not developed; nor caused; and it is a subtle body; flowing in the body; like the water of the rose in the rose; according to what is correct among the people of the Sunnah; and the predecessors refrained from delving into the discussion about the soul out of etiquette; because they knew that in not answering their question with other than this is an indication that silence about it is preferable for them; then He followed it by pointing out their ignorance; for their inversion in the questions by their neglecting to turn towards what they do not understand without a doubt; and that which will benefit them in both abodes from this spiritual soul; which is the Qur'an; and their turning towards what they do not understand of the tangible soul; due to their lack of knowledge; and whoever among them understood it does not understand it except with great difficulty; and in it are many questions indeed without proof for their answers; among them is whether it is biased; or not? And whether it is different from the self; or not? And will it remain after death; or not? So we knew by it that it is only in general; and it is not necessary from the lack of knowledge of its specific reality to deny it; for most of the realities of things are unknown; and they exist.

So, 'the Sakanjabīn'; its characteristic is the suppression of the yellow bile. The reality of that characteristic is unknown; it is known to exist. There is no knowledge of what they asked about the soul after understanding its benefit, regarding that which they left. There is nothing close to it. So He (the Exalted) said, indicating its occurrence by its change; for it is in the beginning ignorant, then knowledge occurs for it gradually. And every change is an occurrence: ﴿And what you have been given﴾ [Al-Qasas: 60]; meaning: from any giver it was, after you were unaware of anything; ﴿of knowledge﴾; meaning: the absolute of this reality. So how about the problematic aspects of it?! ﴿Except a little﴾; and among what you are ignorant of are matters essential for you; for your persistence in ignorance of them is a cause for your destruction in both abodes. For among the most ignorant of ignorance and the most misguided of misguidance is to ask about what ignorance of it does not harm you; and its proof depends on intricate matters and difficult premises; while you leave what ignorance of it harms you in religion and the world, despite its utmost clarity, due to the abundance of evidence supporting it; and you have examples of it present with you. And that which you asked about is free from deceit and narrowness; for it warns you of your frivolity, as advice for you; and it diverts from your answer about it to what benefits you, out of kindness towards you. And for understanding this, the predecessors remained silent about delving into its matter; and the address is to the Jews and the Arabs. As for the Arabs, it is clear; and as for the Jews, even though they are the people of the Book, that is an indication of the fading of their knowledge in comparison to the knowledge of Allah, as will be indicated by the words of Al-Khidr to Musa - blessings and peace be upon them - regarding the bird that pecked from the sea once or twice. Wherever there is an emphasis on the greatness of something, and its abundance, it is in relation to others among the creation; and wherever there is a minimization of it - as in this verse - it is in relation to its addition to the knowledge of Allah (the Exalted). And this verse has been reported regarding the reason for its revelation, which is thought to be contradictory; for it has been narrated in the authentic reports: 'From Abdullah ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him - that he was walking with the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - in Medina; and the Jews asked him about the soul; and revelation was sent to him; and when the revelation lifted from him, he recited to them the verse.'

And in the Sīrah of al-Hishāmī, and the Dalā'il of al-Bayhaqī, and the Tafsīr of al-Baghawī, and others from the tafsīrs, from Ibn 'Abbās - may Allah be pleased with him - it is reported that Quraysh sent to the Jews before the Hijrah to ask them about the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - because they were the people of the earlier scripture, and they had knowledge of the prophets that Quraysh did not have. They instructed them to ask him about the soul, and about the story of the Companions of the Cave, and Dhul-Qarnayn. The Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said to them: "I will inform you about what you asked about tomorrow," and he did not make an exception. They turned away from him, and he remained - as they mention - for fifteen nights without Allah sending down any revelation to him during that time, until the people of Makkah began to spread rumors about him, and until the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - became saddened; and it was difficult for him what the people of Makkah were saying. It has also been narrated that the delay of revelation was for forty nights, and it has been narrated: twelve nights. In the Musnad of Abī Ya'la, from Ibn 'Abbās - may Allah be pleased with him - he said: Quraysh said to the Jews: Give us something to ask this man about. They said: Ask him about the soul. So they asked him, and the verse was revealed: "And they ask you about the soul"; and that and similar matters - praise be to Allah - are not problematic, for it is understood that it was revealed for the first reason. So when the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - was asked about it a second time, he did not respond with the first answer, either hoping that something clearer would be brought to him, or fearing that it might have been abrogated, or for some other reason that he - blessings and peace be upon him - saw. So Allah - glorified and exalted is He - would return the revelation to him to affirm it, and to inform that it is the answer, and it contains satisfaction. The delay in the answer to this matter is a decisive proof for Quraysh and for anyone with the slightest understanding of the truthfulness of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - in that this Qur'an is from Allah; no one else is capable of it. For if he were able to bring forth anything from himself or from anyone among the creation, he would have exerted his effort in that, to keep his noble self, his lofty ambition, and his pure honor away from what they engaged in due to their failure to meet their promise.

And when the soul is from the realm of command, which is from the secret of the kingdom, it was included in the Surah of "Al-Isrā"; which is from the innermost secret of the kingdom, especially as it was elevated by the Mi'raj, which was made, due to its strangeness, like a vision; "And We did not make the vision which We showed you except as a trial for the people" [Al-Isrā: 60]; and for this reason it was separated from the other two questions, because they are from the realm of dominion. The remainder of the discussion on this will come in the Surah of "Al-Kahf", if Allah wills.