His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"Is he who is upon clear proof from his Lord, and a witness from him follows it, and before it is the Book of Musa, as a leader and a mercy? Those are the ones who believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it among the factions, the Fire is his appointment. So do not be in doubt about it; indeed, it is the truth from your Lord, but most of the people do not believe."

The interpreters have differed regarding the intended meaning of His saying: "Is he who..." A group said: The intended meaning of that is the believers in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Another group said: The intended meaning is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him specifically. Ali ibn Abi Talib, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Mujahid, Al-Dahhak, and Ibn Abbas said: The intended meaning of that is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and all the believers.

Similarly, there has been a difference regarding the intended meaning of "the clear proof." A group said: The intended meaning of that is the Qur'an, meaning it is upon clarity due to the Qur'an. Another group said: The intended meaning is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the pronoun in "the clear proof" is for emphasis, like the pronoun in "the knowledgeable one" and "the genealogist."

There has also been a difference regarding the intended meaning of "the witness." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Ibrahim Al-Nakha'i, Mujahid, Al-Dahhak, Abu Salih, and Ikrimah said: It is Jibril.

Husayn ibn Ali said: It is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Mujahid also said: It is an angel whom Allah has appointed to protect the Qur'an.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is possible that he means by these words Jibril.

Ali ibn Abi Talib, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah said: It is the tongue of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. A group said: It is Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and this has been narrated from him. Another group said: It is the Gospel, and another group said: It is the Qur'an, and another group said: It is the miracle of the Qur'an.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: His saying, "follows it," can be understood in two ways: meaning he reads it, and meaning he follows it. Its interpretation is due to the mentioned differences regarding "the witness," and now let us arrange the consistency of each saying and what it entails.

If we say that His saying, "Is he who..." refers to the believers, then if "the clear proof" is made to be Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, it is correct that "the witness" can be the Gospel, and he reads it, because the Gospel speaks of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And it is correct that Jibril, peace be upon him, follows him, meaning in conveying the Shari'ah and assisting in it. And it is correct that the angel follows, and the pronoun in "from him" refers back to the clear proof which we have determined to be Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And it is correct that the Qur'an follows, and he follows it meaning he adheres to it, and the pronoun in "from him" refers back to the Lord.

And if we make "the clear proof" the Qur'an, with the understanding that "Is he who..." refers to the believers, it is correct that "the witness" can be Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and it is correct that the Gospel can follow, and it is correct that Jibril and the angel can follow. And he follows it meaning he reads it: and it is correct that "the witness" can be the miracle, and he follows it meaning he adheres to it, and the pronoun in "from him" refers back to the Qur'an.

And when We made, is it for the Prophet ﷺ, that the "clear proof" is the Qur'an, and the "witness" is the tongue of Muhammad ﷺ, and the Gospel is arranged, and Gabriel and the angel are arranged, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, is arranged, and the miracle is arranged. It is interpreted that he recites it according to the "witness" as we said, but this saying is weakened by his saying: Those. For if we made his saying: Is it for the Prophet ﷺ alone, we would not find in the verse those mentioned to be pointed to by that, and we need in the verse a figurative expression and a comparison, as His saying, the Exalted: "O Prophet, if you divorce the women" [At-Talaq: 1] is a comparison that is not strong.

And the correct interpretation of the verse is that his saying: Is it for the believers, or for the believers and the Prophet is with them, so that the "witness" does not follow after that, intended by it the Prophet if we consider him included in his saying: Is it for the one. And what we left of elaborating this arrangement is quickly revealed by contemplation, so reflect upon it.

And the majority of the people read "a book" in the nominative, and Al-Kalbi and others read "a book" in the accusative. So whoever raised it considered "the witness" to be the Gospel, meaning: he reads the Qur'an or Muhammad ﷺ - according to the disagreement - and "the Gospel" and "before it" is the book of Moses, as in both books there is mention of the Qur'an and mention of Muhammad ﷺ.

And it is correct to consider the raised "the witness" to be the Qur'an, and the words continue thereafter. And whoever placed "a book" in the accusative considered "the witness" to be Gabriel, peace be upon him, meaning: Gabriel recites the Qur'an and before the Qur'an is the book of Moses.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And here there is an objection that is said: When he said before it the book of Moses or "a book" in the accusative according to the two readings. And the pronoun in "before it" refers back to the Qur'an - so why did he not mention the Gospel - which is before it - between it and the book of Moses? The separation is that he specifically mentioned the Torah because both sects agree that they are from Allah, and the Gospel is not like that: so the evidence by which the proof stands for both sects is more appropriate. And this aligns with the saying of the jinn: Indeed, we have heard a book revealed after Moses and with the saying of the Negus: Indeed, this, and that which was brought by Moses, has come from one light, for the Gospel was abbreviated from the perspective that their doctrine in it contradicts the state of the Qur'an and the Torah, and the appointment of an Imam based on the book of Moses, and the factions here refer to all nations. And Sa'id ibn Jubair narrated from Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: "No one hears of me from this nation, nor from the Jews and Christians, then does not believe in me except that he enters the Fire." So I said: Where is the evidence for this from the Book of Allah? Until I found it in this verse, and I used to seek the evidence in the Book of Allah whenever I heard a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ." Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And what is most likely to me among the sayings regarding this verse is that it is about whether it is for the believers or for them and for the Prophet with them. This is because it has previously mentioned those who have nothing in the Hereafter except the Fire. So it followed the mention of them with the mention of others. And 'the clear proof' is the Qur'an and what it contains. And 'the witness' is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, or Gabriel if the Prophet enters into his saying: 'Is it for the believers?' and the pronoun in 'he recites it' refers to the clear proof, and in 'from Him' to the Lord, glorified and exalted is He, and the pronoun before it refers to the clear proof, and other than this that I have mentioned earlier is possible.

And the majority read 'in miry' with a kasrah on the meem, while Sulami, Abu Rajaa, and Abu al-Khattab al-Sudusi read 'in muriy' with a dammah on the meem. Both are two languages in doubt, and the pronoun in 'from Him' refers back to the fact that the disbelievers' appointment is the Fire, and the rest of the verse is clear.

And in this verse, there is an omitted comparison that the apparent wording necessitates its estimation: 'Is the one who is on clear proof from his Lord like the one who disbelieved in Allah and denied His Prophets?' And similar to this, in the meaning of omission, is His saying, exalted is He: 'And if there had been a Qur'an by which mountains could be moved or the earth could be cut or the dead could be spoken to' [Ar-Ra'd: 31], this Qur'an would have been, and from that is the saying of the poet:

I swear if something were to come to us, its messenger would be other than you, but we did not find for you a defense.

The estimation is that we would have returned it and not listened to it.