His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿He sent down from the heaven water, and the valleys flowed according to their measure, and the flood carried a foam that is high. And from what they ignite in the fire, seeking adornment or goods, there arises a foam like it. Thus Allah strikes the truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it goes away as scum, but what benefits people remains on the earth. Thus Allah strikes examples.﴾

The beginning of this verse is a reminder of the power of Allah, the Exalted, and establishing the proof against the disbelievers by Him. Then, when He finished mentioning that, He made it an example for truth and falsehood, faith and disbelief, and doubt in the law and certainty in it.

"Water": He means by it rain, and "the valleys": what is between the mountains of depressions and ditches. His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "according to their measure" can mean what He has decreed for them of water, and it can mean according to what they carry based on their smallness and largeness. The majority of people read "according to their measure" with a فتح (fatha) on the د (dal), and Al-Ashhab Al-Aqili read it with a سكون (sukun) on it.

And "the foam": what the flood carries of debris and similar things, and what it throws on its banks of the bubbling foam. From it is the saying of Hassan ibn Thabit:

؎ And the sea when the wind blows from the north, ∗∗∗ then it is falsehood and throws the foam.

And "high": the swollen one that has risen, and from it is the رَبْوَة (rabbah).

And His saying, the Exalted: "And from what" is the news of a beginning, and the beginning is His saying: "foam" and "like it" is an adjective for "the foam." The meaning is: and from the things that you ignite for seeking adornment - and they are gold and silver - seeking enjoyment from what is in the resources - and they are iron, lead, copper, and similar things that you ignite for them. So the Exalted informed that from these also - when heated - there will be foam similar to the foam that the flood carries. Then the Exalted struck that as an example for truth and falsehood, meaning that the water that the earth drinks and benefits from is like the truth, and the foam that is scum and goes away is like falsehood. Likewise, what is purified from gold, silver, iron, and similar things is like the truth, and what goes away in smoke is like falsehood. And His saying: ﴿in the fire﴾ is related to an omitted phrase whose estimation is: being like that. Al-Makki and others said: and they prevented it from being related to His saying: "they ignite" because they claimed that nothing is ignited except that it is in the fire. And relating the preposition to "they ignite" implies specifying one state from another. Abu Ali Al-Farisi went to its relation to "they ignite," and he said: it can be ignited on something and not be in the fire, like His saying, the Exalted: ﴿So ignite for me, O Haman, on the clay﴾ [Al-Qasas: 38]. So that construction which he commanded to be ignited is not in the fire, but it is affected by its flame. And His saying: "as scum" is a source from your saying: "the pot boiled over" when it boiled until its foam came out and went away. And Ru'bah read: "as scum" from their saying: "the wind startled the clouds" when it carried it and scattered it. Abu Hatim said: the reading of the Bedouins is not considered in the Qur'an.

And His saying: ﴿What benefits people﴾ means the pure of water and of those stones. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu 'Amr, Ibn 'Amir, and 'Asim in the narration of Abu Bakr, and Abu Ja'far, and Al-A'raj, and Shaiba, and Al-Hasan read: "You ignite" with the 'taa', meaning: you all, O igniters, and it is a description of all types of people. Hamza, Al-Kisai, and Hafs from 'Asim, and Ibn Muhaisin, and Mujahid, and Talha, and Yahya, and the people of Kufa read: "They ignite" with the 'yaa', indicating the people. And "Jufaan" is a noun in the position of an adverb. It has been narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that he said: His saying, the Exalted, ﴿From the heaven﴾ means by it the law and the religion. And His saying: ﴿Then the valleys flowed﴾ means by it the hearts, that is: the noble takes his share and the dullard takes his share.

(p-198) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this saying is not correct, and Allah knows best about Ibn 'Abbas, for he tends towards the sayings of the people of symbols, and Al-Ghazali and the people of that path have adhered to it. There is no reason to take the wording out of the meaning of the speech of the Arabs without a reason that calls for that. And Allah is the One who grants success to the truth by His mercy. And if this saying is correct from Ibn 'Abbas, then he intended that His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Thus Allah strikes the truth and falsehood﴾ means: the truth that is established in the hearts, and falsehood: that which befalls them.