And when he informed that they refused to believe in the Qur'an, which informs of the unseen from the command of the Most Gracious, to which minds have been guided, and the eyes have witnessed its signs. In this miraculous speech, the evidence of hearing, sight, and reason corroborated what it informed. He concluded that they believed in the jinn as unseen and worshipped them besides Allah, without any call to that from reason or transmission. They affirmed them from the reports, and if they were truthful in any part of it, they mixed with it more than a hundred lies. They took away the greatest of those whom they claimed to rely on for benefit and harm, and attributed their punishment to their denial of Him. He followed this by informing that they persisted in that disbelief and denial of all that is true and judgment. He said: "And when Our verses are recited to them," meaning at a time from the times of any reciter, "upon them," specifically, as no one else shared with them to say: 'It is the intended recitation, so they are not obliged to listen.' "Our verses" while they are "clear signs," whatever it said, its truth appeared. "They said," immediately without reflection on what led them to that from the desires of the soul.

And when the arrogant ones saw what the message had of prominence, and what the Messenger had of acceptance, and that their followers had clearly seen that, they inclined towards it entirely. Their saying confirmed it: "What is this?" meaning the reciter of it, regarding what is in it of the demeanor indicating that he is the most truthful of creation, the highest in aspiration, and the clearest in counsel. "Except a man," meaning while he is one, he is like one of your men, and you increase upon him in number. They did not attribute the action to themselves to deny the purpose from themselves and to provoke the listeners. They said: "He intends to turn you away" meaning by this which he recites "from what your fathers always worshipped," meaning he has no intention except that for you to be his followers. They stirred the listeners by portraying their fathers by mentioning 'was' and the present tense being associated with worship to affirm their disbelief with what has no evidence, no doubt, and no call except imitation.

And when the evidence of the Book was clear, they feared its consequence in accepting its following. So they insisted that it was a lie to stop them by that. He narrated this from them, glorified is He, by His saying: "And they said, 'What is this?" meaning the Qur'an "except a fabrication," meaning a lie directed away from its face "fabricated," meaning intentionally what is in it of diversion.

And when there was in it what no one doubts of its truth, they confused them by saying it is an illusion that is about to be revealed to them for a time. He, the Exalted, said informing about them: "And they said," and when the truth may be hidden, and He did not constrain it with explanation as He did in the verses, He revealed the place of the concealment as a clarification for the description that led them to that saying, which is deception. He said: "Those who disbelieved," meaning they concealed what the minds indicated of the truth of the Qur'an.

﴿For the truth﴾ meaning that which I do not affirm from it considering the completeness of its truthfulness. ﴿When it came to them﴾ meaning without delaying in reflection or contemplation, so it could be said that the caller to what they said was a type of doubt that arose for them. Rather, they showed by hastening to criticize that it is something they do not hesitate about. They confirmed what had previously been mentioned of their fear for their followers, to make them think. They said: ﴿Indeed﴾ meaning what ﴿this﴾ meaning the established truth, which nothing is more established than it ﴿except magic﴾ meaning an illusion that has no reality to it. ﴿Clear﴾ meaning very apparent in its flaws, for it calls out to itself with that. So do not be deceived by what is in it that inclines the souls and affects the hearts. Indeed, many people have been misled by this deception - although in their attributing it to magic there is an acknowledgment of their inability - until Allah guided some of them, while others persisted in their error until they died upon their misguidance. Although it should have been clear to anyone who saw their eagerness and fervor that they were biased, nothing drove them to that except the desires of the soul and the carnal attachments. Al-Tufayl ibn Amr al-Dawsi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: They overwhelmed me with their matter until I stuffed cotton in my ears out of fear that something of his words would reach me and mislead me. Then Allah willed good for me, so I said: Woe to my mother! Indeed, I am, by Allah, an intelligent, rational poet, and I have knowledge of distinguishing the worthless speech from the valuable. So why should I not listen to him? If it is the truth, I will follow him, and if it is falsehood, I will be aware of it - or as he said. He said: So I aimed for the Prophet ﷺ and said: Present to me what you have brought. When he presented it to me, may my father and mother be a sacrifice for him, I have never heard a saying better than it nor a matter more just than it. So I did not hesitate to embrace Islam. Then I asked the Prophet ﷺ to pray to Allah for me [to grant me] a sign that would help me with my people. When he looked over his people, there was a light on his forehead, and he feared they would think it was a blemish. So he prayed for it to be changed, and it changed to the end of his whip. Allah helped him with his people [and they embraced Islam].