His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So do not be in doubt about what these [people] worship. They worship not except as their forefathers worshiped before. And indeed, We will give them their share without decrease." "And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture, but it was disputed in. And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord, it would have been judged between them. And indeed, they are in doubt about it, unsettling." "And indeed, each one of them will surely be given by your Lord their deeds. Indeed, He is All-Aware of what they do."

The address is to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the meaning is for him and his nation. There is no doubt that it does not apply to anyone else, but it is from the eloquence of the speech in clarifying the misguidance of the disbelievers that it is expressed in this phrase. Their condition is clearer than to be doubted. And "mirya" means doubt. And "these" refers to the disbelievers of the Arabs, the idol worshipers. Then He said: "They worship not except as their forefathers worshiped before." The meaning is that they are imitators, having no proof or argument. Their worship is merely a resemblance to their forefathers, not based on insight. And His saying: "And indeed, We will give them their share without decrease" is a warning. Its meaning is the punishment that their deeds necessitate. It appears from His saying: "without decrease" that the first ones have a share of the disbelief of the latter ones. The majority read: "We will give them" with a fatḥah on the waw and a shaddah on the fā'. Ibn Muḥaysin read: "We will give them" with a sukoon on the waw and a tafif of the fā'.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture" is a consolation for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the mention of the story of Moses is an example for him: meaning, do not let the matter of those who denied you be great upon you. This is the way of the nations. Moses came with a Scripture, and the people disputed over it.

And His saying: "And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord" to the end of the verse, it is possible that He means the nation of Moses, and it is possible that He means the contemporaries of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and that the wording encompasses them all is better for me. This is confirmed by His saying: "And indeed, each one." And "the word" here refers to the ruling and judgment. The meaning of "it would have been judged between them" is that the believer and the disbeliever would have been separated by the bliss of this and the punishment of that. And the description of doubt as unsettling strengthens the meaning of doubt.

And Al-Kisai and Abu Amr read: "And indeed, each one will surely be" with a shaddah on the nūn and a tafif of the mīm from "will surely be." Ibn Kathir and Nafi' read with both being light. Hamzah read with both being heavy, and likewise Hafs from Asim. And Asim read - in the narration of Abu Bakr - with a tafif of "if" and a shaddah on the mīm from "will surely be." Al-Zuhri and Sulayman ibn Arqam read: "And indeed, each one will surely be" with a shaddah on the mīm and tanwīn. Al-Ḥasan read differently: "And if each one will surely be" with a tafif of "if" and raising "each one" and a shaddah on "will surely be." Likewise, Aban ibn Taghlib read except that he lightened "will surely be." In the Mushaf of Ubayy and Ibn Mas'ud: "And indeed, each one except that they will surely be given their deeds." This is the reading of Al-Amash. Abu Hatim said: What is in the Mushaf of Ubayy is: "And indeed, from each one except that they will surely be given their deeds."

As for the first, 'Indeed' is in its place, and 'both' is its name. Its custom is that it enters upon its news with a لام (lam), and in the speech, there is an oath that also has its لام (lam) entering upon the news of 'Indeed'. So when two لام (lam) come together, they are separated by 'ما' (ma). This is the saying of Abu Ali, and the news in his saying: ﴿He will surely fully compensate them﴾. Some grammarians said: It is correct for 'ما' (ma) to be the news of 'Indeed', and it is for one who understands, because it is a place of genus and type. It is like 'من' (man), as if he said: 'And indeed, both are creations to be fully compensated'. Al-Tabari preferred this and chose it. However, it must be said that 'ما' (ma) should be described since it is indefinite, as they said: I passed by something amazing to you. And it is separated by the fact that his saying: ﴿He will surely fully compensate them﴾ stands in place of the description, because the meaning is: 'And indeed, both are creations fully compensated for their deeds'.

As for the one who lightens it - and this is the second reading in our arrangement - the ruling of 'إن' (in) when it is lightened is the same as when it is heavy. And that is a pure language. Sibawayh narrated that a trustworthy person informed him that he heard some Arabs say: 'If Amr is departing', which is similar to the saying of the poet:

And a bright face of the neck ∗∗∗ as if his breasts are two cups.

This was narrated by Abu Zayd, and the saying in separating 'ما' (ma) between the two لام (lam) is as previously mentioned. And the other saying enters that 'ما' (ma) could be the news of 'إن' (in).

As for the one who emphasized it or lightened 'إن' (in) and emphasized the ميم (meem), there is ambiguity in both of their readings. This is because some people said: 'Indeed, 'لما' (lamma) means 'except', as you say: 'I asked you when you did such and such' meaning: except you did. Abu Ali said: This is weak because this 'لما' (lamma) does not part from the oath. And some people said: Its origin is 'لمن ما' (laman ma), so the نون (noon) was turned into ميم (meem) and was assimilated into the one after it, so 'لَمَّا' (lamma) remained, and the first was omitted for ease of gathering the similar forms, as some readers recited: and the oppression advises you of it by omitting the ياء (ya) with the ياء (ya), and as the poet said:

And the enemies were delighted with us, so they became ∗∗∗ among those who rejoice at what we encountered.

Abu Ali said: This is weak, and there have gathered in this surah more ميمات (meem) than this in his saying: ﴿Nations of those with you﴾ [Hud: 48], and it was not assimilated there, so it is more appropriate that it should not be assimilated here.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And some people said: Its origin is 'لمن ما' (laman ma), so 'من' (man) is the news of 'Indeed', and 'ما' (ma) is extra. And in the interpretation that preceded it, its origin is: 'لمن ما' (laman ma), so 'ما' (ma) is the news that entered upon it 'من' (min) in the manner of its entry in the saying of the poet:

And indeed, we are of those who strike the ram with a blow ∗∗∗ upon its head, the tongue falls from the mouth.

And a group said: 'لما' (lamma) is originally 'لمّا' (lamma) with tanween, and the meaning is: and indeed, both are general, strictly intense, for it is a source: لمّ يَلُمّ (lamma yalumm), as He said: ﴿And you consume the inheritance with [intense] consumption﴾ [Al-Fajr: 19], meaning: intensely. I said: But it has left its tanween and its inflection, and it was built from it (فَعْلى) as it was done in [تَتْرىَ] (tatri), so it was read: 'تَتْرا' (tatra).

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And in this there is consideration. It has been reported from Al-Kisai that he said: I do not know the reason for the emphasis in 'Lamma'. Abu Ali said: As for the one who reads 'Lamma' with tanween and a strong 'm', the reason is clear as we have explained.

As for the one who reads: 'Wa in kullun lamma', it is the lighter form of the heavy one. Its proper usage in most dialects of the Arabs is that what comes after it should be elevated. And 'Lamma' here means 'except', as the majority of the reciters read: 'Indeed, every soul has a guardian over it' [At-Tariq: 4]. And whoever reads 'except' explicitly, the meaning of his reading is clear. And this verse is a warning.

The majority read: 'Ya'maloon' with a 'ya' referring to the absent, while Al-A'raj read: 'Ta'maloon' with a 'ta' addressing the present.