'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, Exalted and Majestic, says: "Say, 'If Allah had willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have made you aware of it. I have certainly remained among you for a lifetime before it. Do you not understand?"' "So who is more unjust than one who fabricates a lie against Allah or denies His signs? Indeed, the criminals will not succeed." "And they worship besides Allah that which does not harm them or benefit them, and they say, 'These are our intercessors with Allah.' Say, 'Do you inform Allah of that which He does not know in the heavens or in the earth? Glorified and exalted is He above what they associate with Him.'" This is from the completeness of the argument. That is: this speech is not from me nor from my own accord, but rather it is from Allah. If He had willed, He would not have sent me with it, nor would I have recited it to you, nor informed you of it. And "أدراكُمْ" means: I informed you. It is said: 'I knew of the matter' and 'I informed others.' This is the reading of the majority. Ibn Kathir read in some of what was narrated from him: 'وَلَأدْراكم بِهِ,' and it is a letter of emphasis that has entered upon 'أدْرى.' The meaning, according to this, is: 'And I would have informed you of it in a way that is not my own.' Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Ibn Sirin, Abu Rajaa, and Al-Hasan read: 'وَلا أدْرَأْتُكم بِهِ.' Ibn Abbas (p-462) and Shahr ibn Hawshab also read: 'وَلا أنْذَرْتُكم بِهِ.' Al-Farraa derived the reading of Ibn Abbas and Al-Hasan on a dialect of some Arabs, from their saying: 'لَبَّأْتُ' meaning 'لَبَّيْتُ,' and from the saying of a woman among them: 'رَثَأْتُ زَوْجِي بِأبْياتٍ,' meaning: 'I mourned.' Abu Al-Fath said: 'It is only 'أدْرَيْتُكُمْ' where the ياء has changed to an ألف due to the opening of what precedes it. And it was narrated from Qutrub that the dialect of Aqeel in 'أعْطَيْتُكَ' is 'أعْطَأْتُكَ.' Abu Hatim said: 'The ياء has changed to an ألف just as in the dialect of Banu Al-Harith ibn Ka'b: 'السَلامُ عَلاكَ.' Then He said: "So I have certainly remained among you for a lifetime before it," meaning: forty years before his mission, peace be upon him. He means: you have not experienced me in a lie, nor have I spoken about any of this. "Do you not understand" that one who possesses this quality cannot be a liar after his lifetime has passed and his hope has diminished, and his wisdom has increased, and his fear of his Lord has intensified? The majority read with clarity in 'لَبِثْتُ,' and Abu Amr read: 'لَبِتُّ' with the تاء merged into the تاء. And His saying, Exalted is He: "So who is more unjust," the verse indicates the gravity of the crime of the one who fabricates a lie against Allah after the prior disavowal of that. It is said: thus the speech is consistent and its eloquence is established. And His saying: "So who is more unjust" is an interrogative and an affirmation, meaning: no one is more unjust than "the one who fabricates a lie against Allah or" than "the one who denies His signs" after their clarification. And that is the greatest crime against Allah, and the most likely to lead to His punishment. Then it was affirmed that the people of crime will not succeed, and "يُفْلِحُ" means: he will attain his desire.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And they worship besides Allah that which does not harm them﴾, the pronoun in "they worship" refers back to the disbelievers from Quraysh, whose dialogue has preceded. And ﴿that which does not harm them nor benefit them﴾ refers to the idols. Their saying ﴿These are our intercessors﴾ is the belief of the noble among them. So Allah, exalted is He, commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to confront them and reprimand them: Do they inform Allah of news from the heavens and the earth that He does not know? And He mentioned "the heavens" because among the Arabs are those who worship the angels and Al-Shi'ra. Based on this, it is appropriate to say: "These are". It is said that this is a figurative expression regarding the idols that do not possess reason. In stopping at this, there is a great defeat for them, and they can only say: We do not do and we cannot, and this is necessary for them from their saying: ﴿These are our intercessors﴾. And ﴿Glorified is He﴾ is a beginning of glorification of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic. Abu Amr, Asim, and Ibn Amer read here: "from what they associate" with a pronoun referring to the absent. In two letters in An-Nahl, one letter in Ar-Rum, and one letter in An-Naml, Abu Hatim mentioned that he read it like this as well: Nafi', Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, Ibn Al-Qaqa', Shaiba, Hamid, Talha, and Al-Amash. Ibn Kathir and Nafi' read here and in An-Naml only: "you associate" with a pronoun addressing the present. Hamza and Al-Kisai read the five letters with a pronoun addressing the present, and this is the reading of Abu Abd Al-Rahman.