And when the Sunnah of Allah is established that no one has killed a Sunnah except that it has increased in his abandonment by reviving through his hand an innovation that has led them to reject the words of Allah, the first of the allies is their inclination towards the words of the devils, who are the fiercest of enemies. So He, the Exalted, said: ﴿And they followed what the devils recited﴾: meaning: what they read or follow. He expressed it in the present tense to indicate its abundance and prevalence, and its continuation.

﴿The devils upon the kingdom﴾: meaning: the time of the kingdom of ﴿Sulaiman﴾ from the magic which is disbelief. Al-Harali said: In that its reality is a matter that is nullified by mentioning the name of Allah, and its effect appears in what is limited to it from deception and illness and the like by restricting it without the name of Allah, which is disbelief. It has ended. And it seems that magic was manifest and high in those days, as understood by the expression of “upon.” It is better than this to imply that “you recite” is a lie, so the estimation would be: you recite lies about his kingdom, as indicated by what Al-Baghawi and others narrated from Al-Kalbi, and likewise what was narrated from Al-Suddi. And Abu Hatim Ahmad ibn Hamdan Al-Razi mentioned in his book Al-Zinah: It was narrated in the hadith: 'When Sulaiman, peace be upon him, died, the devils wrote types of magic: Whoever wishes to achieve such and such, let him do such and such, and they placed it in a book, then sealed it with the seal of Sulaiman and wrote in its title: This is the book of Asaf ibn Barkhiya, the trustworthy, for Sulaiman ibn Dawud, peace be upon them, from the treasures of knowledge. Then they buried it under his throne; so the remnants of the Children of Israel extracted it after they innovated what they innovated. When they stumbled upon it, they said: The kingdom of Sulaiman was nothing but through this, so they spread the magic among the people; for there is no one more than it among the Jews.' It has ended.

And Solomon - as mentioned in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew and during the Gospel of Luke - is the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nashon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, peace be upon them. The result is that they, along with their abandonment of the books that confirm what they have, which are sufficient for every guidance and blessing coming from Allah, who is beloved to His servants with every beautiful thing, through the tongues of His messengers, who are the most truthful of people, the most sincere among them, and the most guided, especially this miraculous book, which they were eagerly awaiting the time of its companion, followed the magic, which is the most harmful and the ugliest of things, brought forth by the devils, who are the most severe of enemies and the most dreadful. The most astonishing thing about this is that they falsely attributed magic to Solomon, peace be upon him, out of lies and wickedness, and they disbelieved in him through it, yet they were the most eager people for it, seeking it in knowledge and action, and it was most prevalent among them. Thus, they were witnesses against themselves of disbelief. Among the merits is that when his saying was: 'And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture and followed up after him with messengers' [Al-Baqarah: 87], and what follows in the books and the prophets and the messengers from among humans and angels, their disgrace was that the disbelievers among the People of the Book rejected all of that and opposed it, turning to the magic, the refutation of which was among the first miracles of their prophet and the greatest of them; for it is the most contradictory thing to their law, while they know that it harms them in both worlds and does not benefit them. And when the People of the Book believed after the death of Solomon, peace be upon him, that magic was from him, and that the organization of his kingdom over humans, jinn, birds, beasts, and the wind was only through it, Allah, the Exalted, denied that from him with His saying: 'And Solomon did not disbelieve.' Al-Harali said: It is said that it is from safety, for it is from the safety of his heart from attachment to what Allah, the Exalted, granted him of his kingdom: 'This is from the grace of my Lord, to test me whether I give thanks or act ungratefully' [An-Naml: 40]. And he is one of perfection in the kingdom of the visible world from the four corners, and there is none among them from the creatures. It has ended. That is: there was no disbelief from him, let alone that it be through magic, which is the furthest thing from the signs of the prophets. 'But the devils disbelieved.'

Then he clarified their disbelief by saying: ﴿They teach the people﴾ meaning: the compelled ones who have not reached the age of those who believed ﴿the magic﴾ meaning: that which they have generated by beautifying its state so that it is believed to be effective by itself and so forth. Just as the prophets and their followers teach the people the truth by what they clarify of its matter. And magic: Al-Harali said: it is the turning of the senses in their perceptions from their usual state in their correctness due to a false cause that does not hold up with the mention of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. And Al-Karmani said: it is an extraordinary matter that originates from an evil soul that cannot be opposed. And Al-Asfahani said: they differed in learning it on three aspects: one of them is that it is forbidden, the second is that it is disliked, the third is that it is permissible. The truth is that if learning it is for practice, then it is forbidden. If it is to avoid it and not to be deceived by it, then it is permissible. And he said: and what is meant by magic is that which is sought in obtaining it by drawing close to the devil from that which a person cannot independently achieve. And that does not befall except for one who is compatible with it in wickedness and evil of the soul. For compatibility is a condition in solidarity and cooperation, and by this the magician is distinguished from the saint and the prophet. As for what is astonishing, like what the people of tricks do with the aid of tools and medicines, or what the one with sleight of hand shows, then it is not forbidden. And its being called magic is a figurative expression for its precision, because it is originally for what its cause is hidden.

And His saying: ﴿And what﴾ meaning: and they follow or they teach what,

﴿was revealed to the two angels﴾ Al-Harali said: in it is an indication that this illusion is of two kinds; one is deposited in existence, which is the matter of the devils, and the other is revealed from the unseen, which is what is learned from the two angels. And he said: ﴿in Babylon﴾ confirming their descent to the earth,

﴿Harut and Marut﴾ are a substitute for the two angels, as if they were, when there was a need for them, not in need of anyone else. They were also described as being two angels, by breaking the lam. And the phrase of Al-Harali: two angels made into angels on earth. And the verse is from Allah's showing the angels as the best of the vicegerents. Then he clarified the advice of the two angels by saying: ﴿And what﴾ indicating that the decree is: and the two angels did not disbelieve as the devils disbelieved, for they ﴿teach﴾ and the addition of 'min' in His saying: ﴿from anyone﴾ is to emphasize the totality. ﴿Until they say, 'Indeed, we are a trial'﴾ meaning: in the form of a test from Allah for His servants, for He knows the news of who chooses magic for its immediate benefit over the matter of prophethood and disbelieves, and who knows its reality so that he does not fall into it while he is unaware, then he leaves it in favor of the religion of Allah. And He unified the subject of the two because it is a source and it cannot be dualized or pluralized. Al-Harali said: and its original meaning is from the trial of gold, which is its refining to reveal its essence and to separate the good from the bad.

﴿So do not disbelieve﴾ by acting upon what We teach you, for acting upon it is disbelief, or by believing that it is a truth that suffices from what has come from Allah, or that it has an effect by itself,

﴿And they learn from the two what they use to cause division﴾ in opposition to the two angels in their prohibition of that. And He mentioned division in the most intense connection so that what is below it may be understood. He said: ﴿Between a man and his wife﴾. And a man is the name of an age from the ages of nature, in which a man shares with a woman, and he has a certain virtue in it, and its meaning is called: marwah, as stated by al-Harali.

And when He mentioned the near cause of harm, He referred it back to it as an elevation of the sharp mind to the highest ranks and a protection for it from believing in what is not suitable. He said: ﴿And they will not harm﴾ him, and it is from harm - with a fathah and a dhammah - which is what causes pain to the exterior of the body and what is connected to its tangible aspects, in contrast to harm which is the pain of the soul and what is connected to its conditions. The dhammah in dhar indicates that it is from highness and overpowering, and the fathah indicates that it is what comes from a counterpart and the like. Rarely does it come from the lower except as harm, and from it: ﴿They will not harm you except for a little harm﴾ [Aali Imran: 111], as stated by al-Harali.

﴿By it from anyone﴾. And when He confirmed its comprehensiveness with types of emphasis, He followed it with the standard of generality, saying: ﴿Except by the permission of Allah﴾, who encompasses everything in power and knowledge, and there is no equal to Him. And in this is an indication to them that His harm (p-80) to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that weak harm where Labid ibn al-A'sam bewitched him, is merely like the harm of others from the causes that may be hidden, so the matter in its harm is attributed to Allah, the Exalted. And it may be known and the harm is attributed to it, as was the case with others from his brothers among the prophets, from them and others. And the knowledge is established that the true influencer in all is Allah, the Exalted. And it will come when He, the Exalted, says: ﴿And He it is who made for you the stars to guide you by them﴾ [Al-An'am: 97], in Surah Al-An'am, what is beneficial to recall here.

And when this which has preceded, even if it has benefit for the one who acts upon it, its harm is greater than its benefit, He followed it with another category for which there is nothing for the one who acts upon it except harm; for the one who is driven to learn it is only preferring to join Iblis and his party. He said: ﴿And they learn﴾, meaning: from the magic that was produced by the devils, not from the two angels,

﴿What harms them﴾ because merely acting upon it is disbelief or disobedience. Then He affirmed that it is all harm with no trace of benefit in it by saying: ﴿And it does not benefit them﴾ (p-81) because it has no effect at all. And benefit is the attainment of what corresponds to the apparent body and what is connected to it in contrast to harm. And for this reason, the disbelievers are often addressed with it due to the occurrence of both meanings in the apparent which is their goal from the apparent life of this world, as stated by al-Harali.

Then He followed it with what is known that they committed it knowingly, saying, affirming: ﴿And they certainly knew﴾, clarifying that they are the most foolish of people,

﴿For whoever purchases it﴾, meaning: he preferred it over what he knows to be beneficial from faith.

﴿What is for him in the Hereafter﴾ is that which remains, the benefit of it remains.

﴿Of any share﴾ means: a portion that is suitable in essence. The share is the appropriate luck for one who is assigned a portion of something, as if it balances with the creation of his soul and the creation of his body, as stated by al-Harali.

Then he gathered for them the blame in a way of emphasis and said: ﴿And how evil is what they sold﴾ meaning: they sold in a way of obstinacy.

﴿By themselves﴾ indicates that it is from what surrounded them, so their souls were uprooted from their essence, which necessitated for them eternity in the Fire. Then he said after affirming knowledge for them: ﴿If they had known﴾ meaning: if they had the capacity to receive the incoming truths, indicating that this is not something one would approach who has the slightest knowledge. Their knowledge, which necessitated their boldness in this, is non-existence, and indeed non-existence is better than it.