His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And how many of the people, even if you strive for it, will be believers﴾ ﴿And you do not ask them for any reward for it; it is nothing but a reminder for the worlds﴾ ﴿And how many a sign in the heavens and the earth do they pass over while they are, thereof, turning away﴾ ﴿And most of them do not believe in Allah except while they associate others with Him﴾ ﴿So do they feel secure that a covering from the punishment of Allah will not come upon them or that the Hour will not come upon them suddenly while they do not perceive?﴾ ﴿Say, 'This is my path; I invite to Allah upon insight, I and whoever follows me. And glorified is Allah; and I am not of the polytheists.'﴾

These two verses indicate that the verse preceding them contains an allusion to Quraysh and the contemporaries of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. It is as if He said: 'Your informing of the unseen is a clear proof of your prophethood, but most of the people do not believe, even if you are eager for their faith.' That is, faith is for whom Allah wills, and His saying: ﴿even if you strive for it﴾ is an eloquent objection.

And His saying: ﴿And you do not ask them﴾ is a reprimand for the disbelievers and a proof against them. That is, how foolish they are to think that you call them to Allah without seeking any reward from them, so that someone might say: 'You are calling them because of the reward.' And Mubashshir ibn Ubaid read: 'And we do not ask them' with a ن (noon).

Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, began to inform about His glorious Book that it is a reminder and a lesson for all the worlds. May Allah benefit us by it and grant us a share of it by His might.

And the congregation read: 'And how many' with the hamzah of the alif and the shaddah on the ya. Sibawayh said: It is like the kaf of comparison connected to 'any,' and its meaning is like that of (how many) in terms of quantity. Ibn Kathir read: 'And how many' with the elongation of the alif and the hamzah on the ya, and it is from the active participle of 'was,' so it is 'kainun,' but its meaning is also like that of (how many). The comprehensiveness of the readings of this word has already been discussed in His saying: ﴿And how many a prophet fought﴾ [Al-Imran: 146].

And 'the sign' here refers to the created things set for consideration and the events indicating Allah, glorified is He, in His creations. And the meaning of ﴿they pass over﴾ is: when something from it comes that can be sensed or known in general, the disbeliever does not take admonition from it, nor does he reflect upon it, nor does he consider it according to his desires and blindness. Therefore, he is like one who turns away. This meaning is similar to the saying of the poet:

The breeze passes by the dwellers of the thicket, And it breaks my heart that its gusts may rise.

And Al-Suddi read: 'and the earth' in the accusative by implying a verb, and the pause - on this - is at 'the heavens.' And Ikrimah and Amr ibn Faid read: 'and the earth' in the nominative as a beginning, and the news is His saying: 'they pass over.' And according to the reading with the genitive of 'the earth,' 'they pass over' is an adjective for 'the sign.' In the Mushaf of Abdullah, it is written: 'and the earth they walk upon.'

And His saying: ﴿And most of them do not believe﴾. Ibn Abbas said: It is about the People of the Book who believe in Allah and then associate partners with Him, as they disbelieved in His Prophet, or as they said: 'Uzayr is the son of Allah, and the Messiah is the son of Allah. And Ikrimah, Mujahid, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd said: It is about the disbelievers of the Arabs. Their belief is their acknowledgment of the Creator, the Provider, and the One who causes death. So, it was called belief even if it was followed by their associating partners with idols and statues. This belief is only linguistic in that it is a confirmation of something. It was said: This verse was revealed because of the saying of the Quraysh during Tawaf and the Talbiyah: 'Here I am, O Allah, there is no partner for You except a partner You have, You own him and what he owns.' It was narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when he heard one of them say: 'There is no partner for You,' would say to him: '(Stop, stop),' meaning: 'Stay here and do not add: except a partner You have.'

And 'the overwhelming' is what covers and envelops and obscures. Abu Hafs and Bishr ibn Ubaid read: 'Or the Hour comes to them suddenly' with a 'ya.' And 'suddenly' means: unexpectedly, and that is more difficult.

And this verse from His saying: 'And how many' is about the disbelievers in accordance with what preceded it. The sinners take from its words a share, and belief is a reality while associating partners is only linguistic like showing off. For he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Showing off is the minor shirk.'

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Say, this is my path﴾, is an indication of the call to Islam and the entire Sharia. Ibn Zayd said: The meaning is: This is my command, my Sunnah, and my methodology. Ibn Mas'ud read: 'Say, this is my path.' The path is the way, and it can be feminine or masculine, as can the road.

And 'insight' is a name for a person's belief in matters of truth and certainty. Insight also, in the speech of the Arabs, refers to the way in blood. And in the famous saying: 'You look at the blade and do not see insight,' some people interpreted the saying of Al-Ash'ari Al-Ju'fi:

They have lost their insights upon their shoulders, and my insight is carried by a strong one.

He describes a people who sold the blood of their guardian, so it is as if his blood has paths upon their shoulders since they are marked among the people by the sale of that blood.

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

And it is permissible that the insight in the house of the Ash'ar is upon the true belief, meaning: they made their belief a pursuit of the Fire, and their insight in that is behind their backs, as you say: So-and-so cast my matter behind his back.

And His saying: ﴿Me and those who follow me﴾ may imply an emphasis on the pronoun in 'I call.' It may also be that the entire verse is a call to goodness, inviting to Allah the disbelievers and the sinners. And 'Glory be to Allah' is a declaration of Allah's perfection, meaning: And say: Glory be to Allah, and say, distancing yourself from associating partners.

It was narrated that this verse ﴿Say, this is my path﴾ to its end was inscribed on the banners of Yusuf, peace be upon him.