And when the name of the partner applies to anyone other than the human being in the end regarding something of the things, and the followers have equated the followed ones whom they worshipped from the devils and others with Allah, the Most High, in submission to them, and obedience in the worship of idols, and opposing the guides and being hostile to them, and turning away from their followers, the name of the partner became applicable to them. And the punishment of whoever falls into polytheism will first be upon whoever considers himself a partner, then upon whoever has placed him in that position. The soul yearned to hasten the leaders with a response out of fear of the punishment descending upon them and their increase in leadership over them. It was said: They said: This is the origin, but he made it clear by the description that necessitated for them the saying, so he said: 'Those who have been proven true' meaning: it has been established and is obligatory 'against them is the saying' meaning: the meaning of this name has fallen upon them and their inclusion, which is the promised punishment with the greatest saying, and they are the leaders of disbelief and the guides of ignorance, by lowering themselves to the status of partners. And he understood by dropping the tool as is customary among the people of closeness and expressing with the description of kindness that they reached after the rudeness and arrogance to the utmost of tenderness and humility. So he said expressing their saying: 'Our Lord, these' referring to the followers 'who led us astray' meaning: we caused the misguidance, which is the leading astray by what we adorned for them of the sayings that we helped them accept as being from us, despite it being apparent in its flaws and clear in its disgrace, what You granted us in this world of honor and wealth; then they began what they thought would repel from them, so they said: 'We led them astray' meaning: they went astray by their own choice 'as we went astray' meaning: we, when we were led astray by what was adorned for us from above until we followed them, there was no coercion from us nor compulsion, with what came to them from the messengers and they had minds, as we went astray by our own choice, there was no coercion upon us from those above us as Iblis said: 'And I had no authority over you except that I called you and you responded to me' [Ibrahim: 22]. So the verse is from the interweaving: he omitted first 'so they went astray' for the indication of 'we went astray' upon it, and secondly 'when we were led astray, from before us' for the indication of 'we led them astray' upon it and their intent, by their saying this lowly thing that there is no blame upon us in reality because of them. And this is the meaning of their saying: 'We disavow ourselves to You' meaning: from their matter, so no punishment is incumbent upon us because of them, for it is a confirmation of what was before and a declaration of it.

And when they knew that they were not believers in their matter, they disavowed their isolation by leading them astray. They said to whoever seemed to say: What is the reason for your disavowal when you have acknowledged your misleading them? They said: "They were not worshiping us," meaning: specifically, "but they were worshiping idols by what their desires had adorned for them. And although we had a type of supplication for them and encouragement towards it, the least we want is for the punishment to be distributed upon everyone who was a cause of that, as in the other verse: "So are you able to protect us from the punishment of Allah in any way?" [Ibrahim: 21] And the ignorant have gone astray in thinking that this will not protect them from Allah at all. For everyone is in punishment, and no one among them can protect another from anything. He said: "For everyone there is a double punishment, but you do not know." [Al-A'raf: 38]