And when the call was completed, there arose a longing for the response. So his saying was resumed: ﴿He said﴾; meaning: based on the assumption of the validity of what you said. This is because when he saw that the opponent had remained silent and did not deny anything of what the claimant said, and perhaps he displayed a demeanor indicating his affirmation, he said that. Thus, he was admonished; even if he had an excuse. All of this is training on being certain in judgment and not being swayed by indications, and not being satisfied with anything less than the sun. He emphasized his words in the context of the oath, as a deterrent to the oppressor, based on the assumption of the validity of the claim, by exaggerating in denying his action. This is because the state of one who has done something indicates the denial of his being an oppressor and the fact that his action is oppression. He began his saying with a word of expectation, due to the necessity of the state of the claim for him: ﴿Indeed, he has wronged you﴾; meaning: by Allah, he has placed what he did with you in an inappropriate context, based on the assumption of the validity of your claim: ﴿By asking for your sheep﴾; meaning: by asking you to include it. He indicated that this was in the context of exclusivity by saying: ﴿to his sheep﴾; by himself or by another on his behalf. That is why he did not say: by his asking. Then he added to that a general matter that encompasses them and others, as a warning, and as a motivator, and as a deterrent. And when the mixture necessitated the assumption of familiarity due to the existence of justice and fairness, and the improbability of the existence of oppression with it, he emphasized his words - warning the oppressor if he was; and hinting at overlooking and reconciliation for the oppressed -: ﴿And indeed, many of the companions﴾; meaning: absolutely; from you and from others; ﴿are transgressors﴾; meaning: they exceed and extend ﴿some of them﴾; in an elevated manner; ﴿over others﴾; seeking other than the truth; ﴿Except those who believed﴾; from the companions; ﴿and did righteous deeds﴾; meaning: all of them; for indeed, no oppression occurs from them; ﴿And few﴾; and he emphasized their fewness and expressed his amazement at it by what he obscured in his saying: ﴿what﴾; like “how excellent”; and for some reason; ﴿they﴾; and he delayed this subject and advanced the news, showing concern for it, because the intended meaning is to define the intensity of sorrow over the fact that justice is extremely rare. So take them as an example, O claimant, and be among them, O one who is claimed against.

And when he completed that, those who entered upon him went away; he did not see anyone from them. It occurred to him that there was no dispute; and that they only intended to test him in judgment; and to train him in it. And that it is permissible for a person to say what did not occur if it is based on a great benefit that aids that speech as a means to reach it; or if it was the best of the ways; while the matter is free from corruption. The essence of it is that it is a reminder of words; and what is meant by it are some of its necessary implications. It is like the indication of implication in the singular terms. This is like the saying of Sulayman - blessings and peace be upon him -: 'Bring me the sword so I can split it between them.' And what he means is nothing but what necessarily follows from that, which is the knowledge of the truthful and the liar, due to the refusal of the mother regarding that; and the acceptance of the claimant as a liar; and his confirmation that there is no necessary connection between the words and the intention of the meaning corresponding to its terms; as evidenced by the frivolity of the oath; and the saying of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - to Safiyyah - may Allah be pleased with her -: 'My injury is in my throat'; and to Umm Salamah - may Allah be pleased with her -: 'May your right hand be in dust'; and his saying - blessings and peace be upon him -: 'Three matters are serious; and their joking is serious.' Indicating that the speech may not be intended for its meaning; and from here the ruling in the words of metaphors is that nothing occurs by them unless it is accompanied by the intention of the meaning. And when this amount is known, he added to it his saying: 'And Dawood thought'; meaning: by their departure before the matter was settled; and a great matter from the greatness of Allah overwhelmed him; he had no prior knowledge of anything like it. 'Indeed, We tested him'; meaning: We tested him with this judgment in the rulings that kings are required to have, so that their matter may be clarified in it. And he knew that he hastened to attribute to the one being claimed against that he had wronged, before he heard his words; and the claimant asked him for the judgment. So Allah rebuked him for that; and the prophets - blessings be upon them - for their high ranks are rebuked for such things. And this is from the limitation of the described by the attribute in heart; meaning: this story is limited to the trial; it has no connection to the dispute. And if what was intended was what was said about the story of the woman, which is upon every Muslim to purify himself and his other brothers - blessings be upon them - from like it, it would have been said: 'And Dawood knew'; and it would not have been said: 'And he thought' - as every person with the slightest taste in debates witnesses. And Allah is the Granter of success. And Al-Zamakhshari said: And from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib; and Al-Harith al-A'war that Ali ibn Abi Talib - may Allah be pleased with him - said: 'Whoever tells you the story of Dawood as the storytellers narrate it, I will lash him one hundred and sixty times.' And this is the limit of slander against the prophets - blessings be upon them. It has been narrated that Umar ibn Abdul Aziz was informed of that; and with him was a man from the people of truth; so he denied the narrator of it; and said: If the story is as in the Book of Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - then it is not appropriate to seek its contrary; and it is a great matter to say otherwise! And if it is as you mentioned, and Allah has concealed it from His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - then it is not appropriate to reveal it to him. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz said: 'I prefer to hear this speech over what the sun has risen upon.'

And that story and its like are from the lies of the Jews. Some of those who converted from them informed me that they deliberately do this regarding David - peace be upon him - because Jesus - peace be upon him - is from his descendants; so they find a way to slander him.

And when he thought this, it caused him to realize what Allah described of repentance; so he expressed that by saying: ﴿So he sought forgiveness﴾. And when he was overwhelmed by the greatness that this leads to, he returned to mentioning kindness and grace; and he said: ﴿His Lord﴾; meaning: he sought forgiveness from his Master, who had been kind to him by placing him in that great position, so that he would not return to the ruling of the first without hearing the other. ﴿And he fell﴾; meaning: he fell from his standing; repenting to his Lord for that. And since falling may occur for reasons other than worship, he said: ﴿Bowing﴾; meaning: prostrating; because falling can only be for the act of falling to the ground. And since the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - interpreted it as prostration, as narrated by al-Nasa'i from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - "that the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - prostrated in 'S'; and he said: 'David prostrated in repentance; and we prostrate in gratitude.'" And he expressed bowing as prostration, so that it is understood that it was from a standing position and that it was done with great speed due to the strong concern for it, and the availability of the call to it, to the extent that he reached prostration in the time it takes others to reach bowing. Ibn al-Tayyani said in his book 'Al-Mu'ib': 'And everything that falls on its face, its knees touch the ground after it lowers its head; then it is bowing.' Ibn Durayd said: 'The one who bows is the one who falls on his face.' This is the end. And 'the bowing' - with a damma - is the pit of the ground; as if it is named so because one falls into it on their face; and as if it is the origin of the matter. And he said in the dictionary: 'He bowed'; meaning: he prayed; then at that time, the meaning would be: he fell praying; and it is known that their prayer does not include bowing; and this has been mentioned previously in 'Aal 'Imran' and 'Al-Baqarah'. ﴿And he turned back﴾; meaning: he repented; meaning: he returned from returning to something like it.