And when our Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, brought these strange, remarkable news that only the skilled among the scholars of the Children of Israel know in their essence, it was the right of the listener to be alerted from his negligence and to awaken from his slumber. This is because it is a reminder in itself for the fair-minded and perceptive that the one bringing it - and the listener is aware that he has never mixed with a scholar at all - is truthful, with no doubt in his truthfulness in all that he claims about Allah, glorified and exalted is He. It was the right of the one who is alerted to hasten to submission and to declare his faith. So when they did not do so, he turned to admonish the foolish and to rebuke the arrogant, saying: 'That' - meaning the lofty discourse, the truthful aim, the wondrous arrangement - 'is from the news of the unseen, which We reveal.' This means We renew its revelation in similar matters 'to you' at all times. For you were not with them in this which We have mentioned to you one day regarding this clarification, along with the miracle in eloquence. It is permissible that the sentence is a state, the meaning of which is: 'and' the state is that you 'were not.' And since this is along with being one of the most profound secrets, it is from the most hidden knowledge. He expressed it with 'with' due to its high rank of strangeness, as was mentioned in His saying: 'It is from Allah' [Aal Imran: 37]. And He repeated it for the purpose of magnifying it and as a reminder that it is something that is truly astonishing, even among the people of selection. He said: 'with them.' Al-Harali said: 'With' is present for the elevation of that thing about which it is being informed.

﴿When they cast﴾ for the sake of the lot - ﴿their pens﴾ Al-Harali said: the plural of qalam, which is the indicator of the effects that inform about what is beyond it from consideration - it has ended ﴿Which of them﴾ (p-395) meaning they are drawing lots to see who ﴿will take care of Maryam﴾ meaning who will nurture her and raise her, competing in her matter for what Allah, the Most High, has honored her with ﴿And you were not with them when﴾ meaning at the time ﴿they disputed﴾ meaning in that matter until we recount similar news to this in this upright manner - it means that there is no way for you to know that except by being with them at that time, or taking that from the People of the Book, or by revelation from Us; and it is clear and evident that your distance from learning from humans is like your distance from being present among them at that time, due to your well-known illiteracy which distances you from knowledge and scholars, until what your people boast of in eloquence and the struggle of crafting the arts of speech in superior forms, thus your news is confined to that by revelation from Us. This indication was placed in the middle of this narrative so that the listener would be reminded of what has passed and would listen attentively to what remains. It was placed after the introduction with the story of Maryam, peace be upon her, as an indication of her great status and that she is the one specifically intended for the response to the delegation of the Christians of Najran. It is as if He followed the indication with what was at the beginning of (p-396) their story regarding their casting lots and their dispute over her guardianship, which is hidden except for the specifics of the People of the Book. This is alongside the relevance of the pens to the good news of whom the Book knows, and He continued to complete the discourse in that wise manner until the proof was established and the path became straight, so He, the Most High, said, changing from (When) the first time, indicating that what is between them is an interruption for what He has alerted to of noble purposes: