And when sincerity cannot be attained except by one whose spirit has been elevated from the burdens of bodies, and its lights have soared from the depths of the darkness of ignorance to the throne of knowledge, then when the Sovereign, the Judge, becomes his hearing by which he hears, meaning that he does not act with any of these faculties except what he has been commanded by Him, glorified and exalted is He. He acts in the worlds by the permission of the Opener, the All-Knowing. The hearts gain from the light of His lights, and the dead aspirations come to life by the purity of His secrets. Glorified and exalted is He, has alerted to this, urging towards it and enticing to it by His saying, exemplifying with what the servants understand, informing about a beginning that is omitted, the meaning of which is: He is the 'Exalted in Degrees'. This means that none reaches His exalted presence except one who has ascended in the ranks of worship and the stages of perfection.

And when we do not recognize a king except by his dominance over the throne of kingship, and the steps of every king are what he uses to reach his throne, He, glorified and exalted is He, indicated by the gathering of the few to the heavens that are below His throne, glorified and exalted is He. Then He indicated that the steps to Him cannot be counted in any way, for if we were to spend the lifetime of this world in creating steps to reach the lowest heaven, we would not reach it. So how about what is above it? How about His exaltation, glorified and exalted is He? It is not a matter of distance, but rather an elevation of greatness and the penetration of a word, beyond which hopes are cut off and days and nights perish. The one who reveals this in the most complete revelation is expressed in 'Asked' [Al-Ma'arij: 1] in the form of the utmost plural 'The Ascents' [Al-Ma'arij: 3]. Then He said, exemplifying for us with what we know: 'The Lord of the Throne', meaning the Perfect One, of whom there is no throne in reality except Him. He encompasses all the worlds and is the substance of every inanimate and living thing, and He is exalted in His majesty and greatness above all that comes to mind.

And when the kings would convey their commands from the ranks of their great ones to those whom they had chosen in their affection, He said: ﴿He sends down the Spirit﴾ meaning the one by which the souls live, the life of the bodies with the souls ﴿from His command﴾ meaning from His words. There is no doubt that what is sent down is not the inner speech, but rather that which indicates it. It is that which accepts descent, recitation, writing, and similar matters. And since His command is above every command, He indicated this with the tool of elevation by saying: ﴿upon whom He wills﴾. And since what they saw from the kings could not enable them to elevate every one they wished from their ranks, He pointed out His greatness by saying: ﴿from His servants﴾. He indicated by this, along with the indication that He is the absolute commander, and it is not permissible for anyone to object to Him. Even if someone were to object, their objection would be less than to be noticed or relied upon in refuting their words ﴿Has the Reminder been sent down upon him from among us?﴾ [Sad: 8] because he, peace be upon him, the one sincere in His service, did not lean toward anything from their idols for a moment nor turn his gaze away from the true God for the blink of an eye. Therefore, He chose him from among them with this Spirit that there is no spirit in existence besides it. So whoever turns to it and is sincere in its recitation and acts upon what it calls to and distances himself from what it forbids becomes one with a living spirit that revives the dead and brings forth the bright ones. Al-Razi said: Ibn Ata said: The life of the heart is according to what is sent down to it from the Spirit. Among them are those to whom the spirit of the message is sent, and among them are those to whom the spirit of prophethood is sent, and among them are those to whom the spirit of truthfulness and unveiling and witnessing is sent, and among them are those to whom the spirit of knowledge and understanding is sent, and among them are those to whom the spirit of worship and service is sent, and among them are those to whom the spirit of life is sent only, having no knowledge of Allah nor rank with Allah. Thus, he is dead inwardly, and he has the animal life by which he guides himself to livelihood without the Hereafter - this is the end. In summary, each of these spirits is a discourse for whom it is sent down, absolute for their tongue with its wondrous expression, even if their articulation differs in their expression and their actions in their great matters.

And when He clarified the secret of His choosing for the sending of this noble Prophet, He followed that with what increases its explanation from the fruit of sending, saying: ﴿To warn﴾, meaning that which He has chosen, glorified and exalted is He, with His Spirit. He expressed what is required by the classification of people, which is the aim of the Surah regarding the gathering. He removed the delusion of those who may find it impossible to meet Him, glorified and exalted is He, due to the elevation of His ranks and the lowering of the ranks of others. ﴿On the Day of Meeting﴾, meaning that which is not deserving to be described as meeting in reality except for it, because therein the first ones and the last ones meet, as well as the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. And there is no way for any of them to separate from their adversary without a judgment based on justice. To this meaning, the reading of Ibn Kathir indicated by affirming the 'ya' in both cases, which is very clear in the separation of the two groups of the successful and the losers. For it is a meeting that has no end. The reading of the majority, by omitting in both cases, refers to the meeting of these two parts: one with the other. For it is - and Allah knows best - rare that they would part by command, each to his abode: the successful without account, and the losers whose worth is not established. The affirmation in the position without connection refers to the middle matter, which is for those who remain, their meeting extends until the time of retribution for some of them from others.