And when this is the action of one who has no insight or understanding, it caused his saying to be an analogy for the monotheist and the polytheist with two paths and their two religions with two ways: ﴿Is he who walks﴾ meaning on the path of continuity ﴿headlong﴾ meaning entering with himself into the act of falling and has fallen to it, which is the act of falling ﴿on his face﴾ and this is a metaphor for walking on an unknown path and a crooked and faulty trace, contrary to the habit of the wise due to a defect in his limbs, and confusion in his mind and opinion. He is like one who stumbles and falls on his face, because due to his lack of sight, he walks in the most difficult places, swayed by desire away from the proper path, and the dominance of ignorance over him is such that the repetition of hardships does not deter him from the cause that leads him into it. And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, did not name his walking a path because he does not deserve that.

And when he may encounter ease not out of insight but by coincidence, he said: ﴿Is he who is guided﴾ meaning more guided ﴿than he who walks﴾ always continuously ﴿upright﴾ standing, raising his head, directing his face, safe from stumbling because he, due to his uprightness, sees what is in front of him and what is to his right and what is to his left ﴿on a path﴾ meaning a wide, smooth, well-trodden, easy, and straight path ﴿straight﴾ meaning he is at the utmost of righteousness. This is like one who is pleased with Allah as a Lord and with Islam as a religion, for he follows the original sound nature free from desire or anger or any taint of fortune. The first is like the disbeliever; his state in his journey to Allah is like that of one who has thrown himself headlong due to extreme desire, seeing nothing around him and feeling nothing that surrounds him, nor does he reflect on the signs nor consider the heard matters. He is today a hidden thing for the appearance of the Day of Resurrection, and he will be gathered on his face to the Fire as a recompense for his contentment with this state in this world. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, will show him today what he has hidden from himself, while the believer is contrary to that in both cases. The verse contains a juxtaposition: it mentioned the headlong first as a proof against the second, and the straight second as a proof against the crooked first. And it pleased him that he mentioned the most severe for the criminal and the most comforting for the Muslim.