And when their scholars commanded them regarding what they abandoned of the high morals of faith and the laws after commanding them to remember what He specially granted them of blessings, and forbade them from what they committed of the lowly acts of ingratitude and breaking covenants and what followed that, they would command others with what they claimed was a purification and forbid them from what they asserted was a degradation; he rebuked them for their encouragement towards what he urged them to and encouraged them to do, and reproached them for abandoning it by saying: ﴿Do you command﴾ from the command, which is the obligation of the ruling, as al-Harali said.

﴿The people to righteousness﴾, which is the expansion in good deeds, ﴿and you forget﴾, and forgetting is the distraction that occurs after acquiring knowledge,

﴿yourselves﴾ meaning you leave carrying it towards that, the leaving of the forgetful. And perhaps he expressed it to increase the repulsion from this terrible matter, which the intellect has clearly indicated its foulness. For the purpose of commanding others to righteousness is advice or compassion, and it is not rational for a person to show compassion to others or advise others and forget himself. The apparent meaning is that what is intended by it is the ruling of the Torah. They would carry their common people upon it while knowing, without the common people, that among the ruling of the Torah is the following of Muhammad ﷺ. They indeed forgot themselves from the command of the foundation of righteousness, which nothing is valid without it.

And al-Harali said: And when there were among them those who advised those who sought guidance from him to follow Muhammad ﷺ and did not guide themselves to what they guided others to; Allah, the Exalted, announced to them that as a summary of what preceded of breaking their covenant and their disguising and concealing what appeared of the deficiency of their intellects in that they would show the path of guidance to others and not follow it. Thus, He brought them out by that from the limit of the intellect, which is the lowest state of the addressed, and increased in their reproach with a present participle indicating their involvement in knowledge and wisdom that forbids what they are upon. He said: ﴿And you recite the Book﴾ from recitation, which is the following of the words of a speaker from the beginning of its initial aspect, as al-Harali said. And this present participle is the greatest alert to the fact that among the ruling of the Torah is to follow him ﷺ, and it indicates that disobedience from the scholar is the most disgraceful. Al-Harali said: It implies that the command of the Prophet ﷺ in the context of his recitation is not hidden in its understanding. Thus, there was in that a departure from the ruling of the light of intellect. End.

And when this was in their Book and they commanded by it while turning away from it, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, caused the denial in His saying: "﴿Do you not﴾" meaning do you recite it and not ﴿understand﴾, indicating that what they are upon of this is not done by one who possesses intellect. And the intellect is the understanding of the realities of what the senses have perceived outwardly - as al-Harali said. It was called intellect because it prevents one from falling into destruction.