And when the beginning of the verse expressed hope for the People of the Book, the end of it cut off from them. It clarified what this last part hinted at and informed him, blessings and peace be upon him, of the outcome of their affair. There is no agreement between him and them at all, nor is there any agreement between their two factions, despite the fact that all of them are from the Children of Israel. This was to relieve him, blessings and peace be upon him, from looking towards the guidance of some of them. So Allah, the Most High, said: "And if you were to bring those who were given the Book..." He established this for the unknown, as a warning of their insignificance. "The Book" means from the Jews and Christians. "With every sign" means from the heard signs that encourage and frighten, and from the seen signs that attract and bring closer. "They would not follow your qiblah" means this one to which you have been turned, and you were truly deserving of it because it is a standing for the people, just as you are a messenger to all people. Their turning away is not due to a doubt that, if it were removed, they would cease, but rather due to stubbornness. Then he hinted to him that they set traps for him to return, even for an hour of the day, to their qiblah, so that they could cast doubt upon him with that. He said: "And you are not a follower of their qiblah." Then he pointed to their defect by their differing and separating while they forbade him from it. He said: "And some of them" means the People of the Book, "are not followers of the qiblah of some" despite their closeness in lineage. This was an encouragement for the Arabs to remain steadfast in distancing themselves from them and to be cautious of their deceit.

And when their religion had been abrogated, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, made it known that their steadfastness on their qiblah was merely a desire. So He said, warning the nation against them and cautioning them from them with a direct address, so that this would be more likely to lead to acceptance of following. "And if you follow their desires..." And since this context is only regarding the matter of the qiblah, He said: "after what has come to you of knowledge." Al-Harali said: He made it ambiguous, and it was not like the first one in which he said: "after that which..." due to the clarity of what was mentioned in the first and the obscurity of what the reference was to in this. And it came with "from" which indicates a beginning from the initial point due to the obscurity of the origin of the matter of what has come from knowledge here and the clarity of that first, because that was in the matter of the religion whose source is reason, and this is in the matter of the guidance whose source is religion and the unseen. Al-Harali said: Allah, the Exalted, said: "Indeed, you would then be among the wrongdoers" in accordance with what was mentioned that whoever catches a glimpse of a description was among those described with the gentlest gentleness and described every rank according to it. So what the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, is raised from is in the context of showing his desire and his eagerness for the guidance of the creation who was created with mercy in him and seeking forgiveness for falling short in it, considering the right of Allah, the Exalted, and the content of Allah's command to him when He commanded him without an interpreter or intermediary to pardon those who wronged him and to connect with those who cut him off. So he, blessings and peace be upon him, would seek to connect with those who had cut him off until he would declare against them by coercion in leaving that and abandoning it, and he would respond to him with a ruling even if he had knowledge with him. And among this is his saying: "O Allah, forgive my people! For they do not know." So in every address to him, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, shows in it his coercion to take the ruling of truth and to implement justice, the greatest praise for him and adherence to His command to him. So he is praised for what he is addressed with in the address of coercion to implement justice and to be concise in the matter of His mercy for the knowledgeable. Allah raised him so that he would not be among those who place mercy in a position deserving of placing wrath. So that which combines its meaning between the opposites of the wrongdoers is in one who places wrath in a position of mercy, so he would be the least of the wrongs, or one who places mercy in a position of wrath, so he would be among them by changing the position by placing virtue in the position of justice. And all that has come in the Qur'an is in accordance with his saying: "So if you are in doubt about what We have sent down to you, ask those who read the Scripture before you. Indeed, the truth has come to you from your Lord." [Yunus: 94] meaning: in implementing justice. "So do not be among the doubters" [Yunus: 94] in seeking virtue for the people of justice, for indeed Allah's justice is implemented as His virtue flows. And likewise is His saying: "He frowned and turned away" [Abasa: 1] "because the blind man came to him" [Abasa: 2] in it is a manifestation of his praise for his eagerness for the reconciliation of the farthest and connecting with those who severed ties until he would turn away from them with the ruling and the emphasis of coercion upon him in that. So he does not turn away from the ruling of the command to the ruling of the Scripture with the truth except by an emphasis on his coercion upon it. So he is praised for what he is prohibited from, because his address is always in that in the Qur'an between virtue and justice, and the address of all creation is ongoing between justice and oppression. So between the two addresses is what is between the degree of exaltation and the depth of the low in the context of the two similar addresses in the differing sayings in knowledge. This has ended. And there will come in His saying, the Exalted, "Allah has forgiven you for what you permitted for them" [At-Tawbah: 43] in Surah At-Tawbah what clarifies it.