'And likewise' means that Our action with them is one of Our signs, from sleep and others. And like what We did with them, 'We raised them' by that which We have of greatness, 'so that they may question' and it is shown by the act that it is in the utmost clarity. And since the intended questioning is about news that does not exceed them, Allah, the Exalted, said: 'between them' meaning about their conditions in their sleep and wakefulness, so that they may increase in faith, steadfastness, and certainty by what is revealed to them of the amazing matters and strange conditions. It is known that there is no knowledge for anyone other than Us, and no power for anyone besides Us, and that Our power is complete, and Our knowledge is comprehensive. Let this be known by whoever denies Our power over resurrection and asks the distant, hateful Jews about their beloved Prophet who came to them with the signs and showed them the clear proofs. If they are seeking advice from the Jews, let them ask them about what We have narrated from this story. If they acknowledge it, it is incumbent upon them all to believe and to return from misguidance and aggression. And if they do not believe, it is known for certain that only those whom We intend to guide by the clear signs will believe, like the People of the Cave and others, not by the sending down of the suggested signs.

And when the situation necessitated that it be said: What was their questioning? It was answered by His saying, the Most High: ﴿A speaker among them said﴾, asking his brothers: ﴿How long have you remained﴾ sleeping in this cave for a night or a day? This indicates that this speaker felt the length of their stay by what he saw of their condition or for other signs. Then he continued in that manner with His saying, the Most High: ﴿They said: We have remained a day﴾. This indicated that this answer was based on conjecture by his saying, indicating that He, glorified and exalted is He, confirmed them in it regarding the permissibility of striving and speaking based on incorrect conjecture, and that it is not called a lie even if it contradicts reality: ﴿or part of a day﴾ as you think when you rise from the graves if you have remained except for a little, for there is no difference between a truthful person and a heretic in ignorance of what Allah, the Most High, has concealed. It is as if it were said: On what matter did their affair settle in that? So it was answered that they referred the matter to Allah by saying: ﴿They said﴾, meaning some of them expressed denial against themselves, and the others agreed with what they had from mutual love for Allah and agreement in it. They are in truth brothers of sincerity and companions of affection and loyalty. ﴿Your Lord﴾, the Benefactor to you, ﴿knows﴾, meaning more than anyone else, ﴿what you have remained﴾. So send one of you with your silver ﴿to the city﴾ which you came out from, which is Tarsus, to let him bring us food, for we are hungry. ﴿Let him see﴾, meaning which of its people ﴿is the best﴾, meaning the purest and best food, ﴿and let him bring you﴾ that one ﴿with provision from it﴾ so that we may eat. ﴿And let him be cautious﴾ in being discreet about his matter so that they do not realize him. ﴿And let no one inform﴾, meaning this one sent from you in this matter, ﴿anyone about you﴾, that they have realized him. The meaning is: Let him not say or do anything that would unintentionally lead to them being aware of you, so that he would have informed them of what was from the cause. And in their story is proof that the traveler carrying what benefits him is the opinion of the reliant, not the dependent who relies on expenditures on what is in the vessels of the people from expenses. And in it is the validity of agency. And the substance of silver in all its fifteen forms has been previously mentioned in Surah Al-Isra and others, that it revolves around gathering. So silver is in the form of a triangle and like a shoulder and a mountain: the minted dirhams - likened to silver in shape and beauty, and by it is the gathering of the state of man, and its state necessitates gathering. And the silver dealer is the one with many dirhams, and he is also a bookbinder, and his profession is bookbinding. And I have always been close to you - meaning nearby - like one who competes with you in the gathering of leaves from a single tree, so he takes from one side and you from another. And proximity is the beginning of gathering, and silver - when moved - is the beauty of this world and its splendor - because it gathers colors and types. And perhaps from it is the piece of paper. It was said in the summary of Al-Ayn: It is black in dust.

And a dove is gray - meaning from it. In the dictionary: and the gray from the camels is that which has in its color white to black. A man saw the ghoul on a gray camel and said: 'He came with the mother of the calamity on a calamity,' meaning - with the great disaster. He diminished the gray like a black in a black. The original is 'wuraq,' so its waw was changed into a hamzah. The gray also refers to ash, and a year 'there is no rain in it and the milk is two-thirds water' - all of this encompasses two colors or more. The 'waraq' (with a vowel) also refers to the book and the tree, as it is known - because you can hardly find one of it in one color. And because it gathers one of it to another and combines the meaning of what it carries. It is said in the summary of 'al-Ayn': and 'waraq' is thin flesh - from it is the paper of the mushaf. And 'waraq' also refers to the fodder - because when the camels are fed it, it is as if it is the 'waraq' and nothing else. And 'waraq' is the living from every living creature - because life is beauty, and with it is the gathering of matters. And 'waraq' is a sign of the life of the living from the tree, for it is from the release of the name of the indicator on the indicated. And 'waraq' also refers to what has turned from blood on the ground, or what has fallen from the wound - because the roundness is the most comprehensive of shapes. And it is a comparison to the leaves of the tree in shape. And 'waraq' is the wealth from camels and dirhams and others - because the gathering of the life of man and its perfection is by that just as the perfection of the life of the tree is by the leaves. And for the grazing of wealth from the animals, 'waraq' is used. And 'waraq' is the beauty of the people and their attractiveness - from that, because it gathers their matter and gathers to them others. And 'waraq' [from the people]: their youth or the weak among the young men - a comparison to the leaves because it does not usually last more than a year, and because it is weak in itself, and weak in benefit compared to the fruit. And 'waraqah' - with a 'h': the cheap and the noble, opposite - sometimes looking at its being beneficial for grazing and indicating life, and sometimes looking at its being not intended in itself. And a man is 'waraq' and a woman is 'waraqah': both are cheap, meaning they have no fruit. And from that is 'awraq' the hunter - if he throws and misses, meaning he did not hit (p-34) on something other than the 'waraq,' meaning he did not obtain for himself a fruit, but fell on a non-fruit-bearing tree. And likewise 'awraq' the people: they failed in their need, meaning they returned without a fruit. And from that also 'awraqoo': their wealth and dirhams increased - opposite, this in regard to the fact that in 'waraq' is the beauty of the tree and its life. And trade is 'muraq' for wealth as it is a multiplier; and from it is the saying of the wool dealer in his diwan: 'This man is a 'muraq' for him dirhams.' And the 'muraq' is the one who has nothing - opposite, or that sometimes it is for the affirmative and the becoming towards 'the camel has grown.' And sometimes it is for the taking towards 'I have taken it.' And 'waraq' like a book: the time of the coming out of [the 'waraq'] from the tree. And a tree and 'riqah' and 'waraqah': much 'waraq.' And 'warqah' is the green tree with beautiful leaves. And 'waraq' - like clouds: the greenness of the earth from the grass, and it is not from 'waraq' in anything, and that is because that greenness does not lack another color. And 'riqah' - like a measure: the first growth of the nasiy and silsiyan, and they are two plants that are the best pastures for camels, because they are a cause for gathering wealth for grazing. And 'riqah' is the land that receives rain in the early season - meaning the beginning of autumn - or in the heat, so it grows (p-36) and becomes green - as if that plant is less green than the spring plant, and its mixing with other colors is more than that in the spring. And in the bow, 'waraqah' - with a fatha: a defect. And 'waraqah' is the she-wolf - because the 'waraq' that is devoid of fruit has less desire for its tree than that which bears fruit. And because 'waraq' is mixed in color, and mixing in everything is a defect in relation to the pure. And 'tawaraqat' the she-camel: it ate the 'waraq.' And 'qar' the man says: he walked on the tips of his feet so that their sound would not be heard - because the doer of that is worthy of reaching what he intends of what gathers his gathering. And from it is 'qar' the hunt: he deceived it - because the people of deceit are more deserving of victory. Do you not see that lions are hunted by it, and if they are overcome, taking them is difficult? And 'qar' the thing: he cut it from its middle in a round hole as if he rounded it - because the garment becomes by that hole what is intended from it. And the roundness is the most comprehensive of shapes as has been mentioned. And 'qawarah' - like 'thumamah': what has been rounded from the garment and others, or is specified with leather. And what you have cut from the sides of the thing, and the thing that has been cut from its sides - opposite, and it is from naming [the place of] the thing by its name. And 'qara' is the small solid mountain that is cut off from the mountains - because of the great gathering of its parts by its solidity (p-37) and its gathering in itself by its being cut off from others that if it mixed with it, it would separate it, and its limit is not known as it is. And 'qara' is the great rock, and the land with black stones - for its gathering in itself by its distinction from others [by those stones]. And a house is 'qawra' - wide - likening it to the roundness of the garment, and because the more it expands, the more it gathers. And 'qar' is the camels or the large herd of them. And 'iqwar' is the contraction of the skin and the bending of the back due to emaciation and old age - because both contraction and bending are gathering. And 'iqwar' is thinness - because the thin one has gathered its parts. And 'iqwar' is fat - opposite, because the fat one has gathered flesh and fat. And 'iqwar' is the loss of the vegetation of the earth - because it becomes by that 'qawra' and becomes more capable of accommodating crowds. And it may be that 'iqwar' is all from the taking except what is for fat. And 'qawr' is the new cotton or what has been planted from the year [because it] is worn and gathers the body. And I met from it the 'aqwarin' - with a kasra of the ra, and the 'aqwariyat' meaning the cutting calamities - likening it to what has been rounded from the garment. For they are for taking. And 'qawr' - with a vowel: the eye - because its place resembles the 'qawarah.' And 'muqawwar' - like 'mu'azzam': the one coated with tar - for the gathering of its parts by that. And 'iqtar' means he needed, meaning he became worthy of gathering. (p-38) And 'taqawwar' the night: it became dark, meaning it passed, from the cutting. And 'taqawwarat' the snake: it coiled, meaning it gathered. And 'qar' is bitter tree - as if it is what is used to coat ships. And this is more bitter than that - because bitterness gathers the throats at tasting. And 'qara' is a tribe - because the son of al-Shadhakh wanted to separate them, so their poet said:

We called for a land that does not frighten us, so we may startle like the startling of the unjust. They named the land by this, and they were archers. In the proverb: the land is justly represented by the one who aims at it. The elevated place is above the mound of sand. It is said to be a high place, without the 'h' - as if it is for gathering much sand, or for gathering those who seek to oversee distant places by being elevated over them for the refreshment of the soul. And Allah is the Grantor of success.