Then he began anew; signaling independence; another reprimand for their increase in disbelief and denial; he said: ﴿Say, O People of the Book﴾; meaning: those who claim knowledge; and follow the revelation; this description was repeated because it - although it is further in reprimand - is closer to gentleness in turning them away from their misguidance; ﴿Why do you hinder﴾; meaning: after your disbelief; ﴿from the path of Allah﴾; meaning: the King who has power; and might; and greatness; and is characterized by all attributes of perfection; and His path is: His religion which His Prophet Muhammad ﷺ brought; and He introduced it out of concern for it; then He mentioned the object; saying: ﴿Whoever believes﴾; while you are; ﴿seeking it﴾; meaning: the path; ﴿crooked﴾; meaning: by twisting your tongues; and your fabrications against Allah; and He did not act - glorified and exalted is He - as He had previously done; when He approached them with the sweetness of His address - glorified is His majesty; and great is His glory - when He said: ﴿O People of the Book, why do you argue about Abraham﴾ [Al-Imran: 65] ﴿O People of the Book, why do you disbelieve﴾ [Al-Imran: 70]; and the verse that follows it without intermediary; and Abu al-Baqa' said - in his grammatical analysis -: "Indeed, 'seeking' may be an independent clause; or it may be a state of the pronoun in 'you hinder'; or from the path; because it contains two pronouns referring to it; therefore, it is valid to be made a state of each one of them; and 'crooked' is a state"; it has ended.

And the author of the dictionary said - in the daughters of the waw -: "To seek something is to look at it as it is;" and he said - in the daughters of the ya -: "I sought it, I want it"; the apparent meaning is that making 'crooked' a state - as Abu al-Baqa' said - is more correct than making it an object - as stated in the Kashaf -; and 'you seek' may be in the ya form; thus its meaning is: "You want it to be crooked; or of a crooked nature"; for 'to seek' means: to intend; or it may be in the waw form meaning: "You see it as having a crooked nature"; meaning: "You impose its description as crooked; while knowing its straightness"; but his ﷺ saying in the authentic narration: "Bring me stones to cleanse myself with"; supports the statement of the author of the Kashaf.

And when he mentioned their hindrance; and their desire for the crookedness that no rational being would accept; he said reproachingly: ﴿And you are witnesses﴾; meaning: by its straightness with your testimony to the straightness of the religion of Abraham; along with the establishment of the evidences of hearing; and reason; that it is his religion; and that the Prophet and the believers are the most deserving of it; (p-13) for their submission to the evidences; and when the witness may be heedless; and they were concealing their plotting in their hindrance; he threatened them with the encompassing knowledge of Him; saying: ﴿And Allah﴾; meaning: the One who has been mentioned as a witness against you; and He has all attributes of perfection; ﴿is not unaware﴾; meaning: originally; ﴿of what you do﴾;