And when their apparent question was about the inquiry regarding the ability to endure; and although it was for the purpose of testing; He affirmed the answer; He said: ﴿Indeed, I am sending it down to you﴾; meaning: now; by My special power; ﴿So whoever disbelieves thereafter﴾; meaning: after its descent; ﴿from you﴾; and this context implies that disbelief will occur from them; and this has indeed happened; even among the disciples; as it is said about Judas Iscariot; one of them; who pointed to Jesus - blessings and peace be upon him -; so a likeness of him was cast upon him; and for this reason, he was singled out for this punishment; He said: ﴿So indeed, I will punish him﴾; meaning: in a decisive manner; and definitively; ﴿a punishment that I will not punish anyone﴾; meaning: like it ever; in what comes of time; ﴿anyone of the worlds﴾; and in this is the most complete deterrent for this nation from proposing signs; and in mentioning the story of the table in this surah which began with the permissibility of food; and ended with it; there is the greatest correspondence; and in all of this is a reminder for this nation of what Allah has bestowed upon them through what He granted their Prophet from miracles; and His favor upon them with good following; and a warning against denying these numerous blessings upon them; and the interpreters have differed regarding the reality of this table; and its conditions; Abu Hayyan said: and the best that can be said about it is what was narrated by Al-Tirmidhi in the chapters of tafsir; from Ammar ibn Yasir - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "The table was sent down from the heavens as bread and meat; and they were commanded not to store for tomorrow; nor to betray; but they betrayed; and stored; and raised for tomorrow; so they were transformed into monkeys and pigs;" it ended; I said: then Al-Tirmidhi authenticated its stopping at Ammar; and said: we do not know of an origin for the raised hadith; except that this does not harm it; because it is not said from opinion; and I do not know of anyone who mentioned Ammar among those who took from the people of the Book; so it is raised by ruling; and this report confirms that the report in the verse is in its proper place; thus refuting the saying of those who said: that it did not descend; because when they heard the condition, they said: we have no need for it; because His report (the Exalted) is not contradicted; and the saying is not changed before Him; and this provision which is from the heavens has indeed occurred similarly for some of the nation; Al-Bayhaqi narrated in the end of the proofs; from Abu Huraira who said: "There was a woman from Daws; known as Umm Sharik; she embraced Islam during Ramadan; and she came seeking someone to accompany her to the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him -; so she met a man from the Jews; and he said: what is wrong with you, O Umm Sharik? She said: I seek a man to accompany me to the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him -; he said: (p-360) come, I will accompany you; she said: wait for me until I fill my water skin; he said: I have water; what do you want with water? So she went with him; and they traveled all day until they reached the evening; then the Jew descended; and laid out his meal and had dinner; and he said: O Umm Sharik; come to dinner; she said: give me water; for I am thirsty; and I cannot eat until I drink; he said to her: I will not give you water until you become a Jew; she said: may Allah not reward you with good; you have deceived me; and prevented me from carrying water; he said: no, by Allah, I will not give you a drop of it until you become a Jew; she said: no, by Allah, I will never become a Jew after Allah has guided me to Islam; so she went to her camel and tied it; and laid her head on its knee and slept; she said: and nothing woke me except the cold of a bucket that fell on my forehead; so I raised my head; and I saw water whiter than milk; and sweeter than honey; so I drank until I was quenched; then I splashed it on my water skin until it was wet; then I filled it; then it was raised before me while I was looking; until it disappeared from me in the sky; so when I awoke, the Jew came and said: O Umm Sharik; I said: by Allah, Allah has given me to drink; he said: from where did it come down upon you? From the heavens? I said: yes; by Allah, Allah has indeed sent down upon me from the heavens; then it was raised (p-361) before me until it disappeared from me in the sky; then she came until she entered upon the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - and told him the story; so the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - proposed to her for herself; she said: O Messenger of Allah; I do not consent myself to you; but my daughter for you; so marry her to whom you wish; so he married her to Zayd; and ordered her thirty sa' of food; and said: eat and do not measure; and she had a jar of butter as a gift for the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - and she said to her servant: deliver this jar to the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him -; say: Umm Sharik sends you greetings; and say: this is the jar of butter we have gifted to you; so the servant went with it to the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - and they took it; and they emptied it; and the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "Hang it up; and do not seal it;" so they hung it in its place; then Umm Sharik entered and saw it filled with butter; so she said: O so-and-so; did I not command you to take this jar to the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him -? She said: by Allah, I did indeed take it as you said; then I came with it and struck it so that nothing dripped from it; but he said: "Hang it up and do not seal it;" so I hung it in its place; and Umm Sharik had tied it when she saw it filled; so they ate from it until it was finished; then they measured the barley and found it to be thirty sa' without anything missing from it;" he said: and this was narrated from another source; and there is a sound witness for it from Jabir - may Allah be pleased with him.

It was narrated with his chain from Abu Imran al-Jawni that Umm Ayman migrated from Mecca to Medina; and she had no provisions with her. When she was at al-Rawha, and that was at sunset, she became extremely thirsty. She said: I heard a strong sound above my head; I raised my head and saw a bucket being lowered from the sky with a white rope. I took it with my hand until I held onto it. She said: I drank from it until I was quenched. She said: I would fast after that drink on a very hot day, then I would walk in the sun so that I would be thirsty; yet I did not feel thirsty after that drink. He said: And in the context of jihad from al-Bukhari, from Abu Huraira, he said: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, sent a group of ten men on a raid; and he appointed as their leader Asim ibn Thabit al-Ansari, the grandfather of Asim ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab - may Allah be pleased with them - and he mentioned the hadith until he said: Then they bought Khubaib - meaning the son of Adi al-Ansari - from the sons of al-Harith ibn Amir ibn Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf; and Khubaib had killed al-Harith ibn Amir on the day of Badr; so Khubaib remained with them as a prisoner. And Ubaidullah ibn Iyad informed me that the daughter of al-Harith said: By Allah, I have never seen a prisoner better than Khubaib; by Allah, I found him one day eating from a bunch of grapes in his hand; and he was indeed bound in chains; and there was no fruit in Mecca; and she would say: Indeed, it is a provision from Allah that He has provided for Khubaib." The hadith.

And it is clear that Isa - peace be upon him - after Allah's command to him to mention these blessings, will stand in that gathering; he will mention them; and he will mention the purpose of the reminder with them; which is praising the One who bestowed them; in a manner befitting His majesty; so he praises his Lord (glorified and exalted is He) with praises that are appropriate for that status in that gathering; and among the most suitable matters at that time is his asking - he who is all-encompassing in knowledge of the hidden thoughts and the secrets - following the threat to those who disbelieve - about what the Christians have disbelieved in; and for that reason, He (glorified and exalted is He) said - in addition to His saying: "When Allah said, O Isa son of Mary, remember My favor upon you" [Al-Ma'idah: 110] -: