And when the punishment that was decreed because of it is extended until the Day of Resurrection, it resulted in his saying: ﴿So there came after them a generation﴾, meaning: they grew up. And since they were not fully immersed in the time of distance, he came with the preposition and said: ﴿After them came a generation﴾, meaning: a people who are worse off than them. ﴿They inherited the Scripture﴾, meaning: that which is a blessing, which is the Torah. It became a punishment for them due to its testimony against them for their evil deeds; because it remained in their hands after their ancestors, they read it but did not act upon what is in it. Ibn Faris said: and the generation is what comes after, whether it is pronounced with a vowel or without. Abu Ubaid al-Harawi said in the two rare words: It is said: a generation of evil - meaning: with a pause - and a generation of truth. Al-Zubaidi said in the summary of al-Ayn: The generation is the evil generation after its father, and the successor is the righteous. Ibn al-Qatta' said in the actions: And a successor of evil: [they became after a righteous people, and a successor of evil. Al-Akhfash said: they are the same, meaning: with a pause], some of them pause and some of them pronounce it with a vowel, and some say: a successor of truth - meaning: with a vowel - and a successor of evil - meaning: with a pause. [He means by this the distinction between them, and each one, if he adds, means that if he does not add, the pause is for corruption, and the vowel is for righteousness.] And he said in the dictionary: A successor is the opposite of a predecessor, and a generation after a generation. From it: [these] are a generation of evil, and the bad of the saying, and with a vowel, the righteous child. If it is corrupt, you pause the letter, and perhaps each of them is used in place of the other. It is said: he is a successor of truth from his father - if he takes his place. (p-147) Or the successor with a pause and with a vowel is the same. Al-Layth: A successor is for the wicked specifically, and with a vowel is its opposite. The essence returns to the successor which is the opposite of the predecessor, as I have clarified in the art of the disturbed in my commentary on the explanation of the Alfiyyah of al-Iraqi.

And when it was presumed that the one who inherits the Scripture is good, it was as if it was said: What good have they done with what they inherited? He said, resuming: ﴿They take﴾ or they renew taking constantly. And he belittled what they took by informing that it is something that is fleeting and does not remain, but is transient. So he said: ﴿A fleeting thing﴾ and he added to its belittlement by indicating the present, saying: ﴿This﴾ and he clarified the intended meaning by saying: ﴿The lesser﴾, meaning: of the two existences, which is the worldly life. ﴿And they say﴾, meaning: always without repentance.

And when the beneficial is forgiveness without regard to a specific individual, they built for the acted upon their saying: ﴿We will surely be forgiven﴾, meaning: without a doubt. So they rushed into evil and cut off by the occurrence of what distances [its occurrence in the future, a ruling on one who judges and is not judged upon, and he clarified what he understood from that by] their insistence, marveling at them in their certainty of forgiveness despite that by saying: ﴿And if﴾, meaning: while it is that if ﴿an offering like it comes to them﴾, meaning: in baseness and meanness - and in prohibition like bribery ﴿they would take it﴾.

[And when this was great, He strongly denounced them] for the denial by saying (p-148) beginning: ﴿Did they not take a covenant upon them﴾ He built it for the action, indicating that the covenant must be fulfilled in every case. Then He magnified it by saying: ﴿The covenant of the Book﴾ meaning: the confirmed covenant [in the Torah] ﴿That they should not say﴾ [meaning: a saying from the sayings, even if little] ﴿About Allah﴾ meaning: the One who has perfection and greatness ﴿Except the truth﴾ meaning: that which is known to be established. And it is not from what is known to be established to affirm forgiveness without repentance. Rather, that is a departure from the covenant of the Book.

And when it might have occurred to them that it was taken upon their ancestors and these did not act upon it, He negated that by saying: ﴿And they studied what was in it﴾ meaning: what is in that covenant by repeating the reading for memorization. ﴿And the Hereafter﴾ meaning: they acted contrary to piety while the Hereafter ﴿is better﴾ meaning: than what they take. ﴿For those who fear﴾ meaning: and they know that by informing their Book. And for that reason, He denounced them by saying: ﴿Do you not understand﴾ meaning: when they took what harms them and perishes instead of what brings them happiness and remains. And according to the reading of Nafi, Ibn Amer, and Hafs with the address, the intended meaning is the indication of the end of anger.