'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, says: "And those to whom We have given the Scripture rejoice in what has been revealed to you. And among the factions are those who deny part of it. Say, 'I have only been commanded to worship Allah and not to associate anything with Him. To Him I call, and to Him is my return.'" "And thus We have sent it down as an Arabic judgment. And if you follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you will have from Allah no protector or defender." "And We certainly sent messengers before you and made for them spouses and descendants. And it was not for a messenger to bring a sign except by permission of Allah. For every term is a decree." "Allah erases what He wills and affirms. And with Him is the Mother of the Book." The interpreters have differed regarding whom this verse refers to. Ibn Zayd said it refers to those who have believed from the People of the Book, like Abdullah ibn Salam and others like him. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The meaning is that He praised them for their strong faith, as they rejoice in what comes to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, from the permissible matters of the Sharia. Qatadah said: It refers to all the believers, and 'the Book' is the Qur'an, and 'what has been revealed to you' refers to all of the Sharia. A group said: The intended meaning of 'those to whom We have given the Scripture' are the Jews and Christians, as they have joy in what is revealed to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that confirms their laws and mentions their forefathers. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This interpretation is weak because their concern for it is greater than their joy in it, so their joy cannot be counted. It is also weak because the Jews and Christians deny part of it, and Allah has differentiated in this verse between those who deny part of it and those to whom We have given the Book. As for 'the factions,' Mujahid said they are the Jews, Christians, and Magians. A group said: They are the factions of ignorance among the Arabs. Allah, the Exalted, commanded him to reject their differences and to declare that he has only been commanded to worship Allah, to abandon associating partners with Him, and to call to Him, believing in the return to Him, which is the return on the Day of Resurrection. And His saying: 'And thus,' means: Just as We have made these people rejoice and these people deny part of it, likewise, 'We have sent it down as an Arabic judgment.' It is possible that the meaning is: And the believers to whom We have given the Book rejoice in it due to their understanding of it and their quick reception of it. Then He enumerated the blessing by saying: 'Thus We have made it,' meaning: We have made it easy for them in that and We have favored them. 'Judgment' is in the accusative case, and the judgments are what the Qur'an contains of meanings, and He made it Arabic because the expression of it is in Arabic. Then He addressed warning against following the desires of these misguided factions, and the address is to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and it encompasses the believers until the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Kathir alone paused at 'waqi' and 'hadi' and 'wali' with the 'ya.' Abu Ali said: 'And the majority pause without the 'ya,' and that is the correct view.' The rest of the verse is clear.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And certainly We have sent messengers before you﴾. In its beginning is reassurance for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and a response to those who proposed from Quraysh regarding the angels, who were astonished by Allah's sending a human as a messenger. The meaning is that your sending, O Muhammad, is not something unprecedented; this has occurred among nations before. Then His saying came: ﴿And it is not for a messenger to bring a sign except by the permission of Allah﴾. Its wording is that of prohibition and warning, but its intended meaning is pure negation. However, it is a strong negation with this expression. Whenever this expression pertains to an event that is within the ability of the one being prohibited, it is a warning. And whenever that does not occur within his ability, it is a pure, confirmed negation. And ﴿by the permission of Allah﴾ means: unless Allah permits that.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿For every term is a decree﴾ is a general wording concerning all things that have terms. This is because there is nothing in it except that it has a term in its beginning and in its end. Every term is written and limited. So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informed about His writing of the terms that are for things in general. And Al-Dahhak and Al-Farra' said: the meaning is: for every book there is a term.

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

And this reversal is not necessary, nor is there any basis for it, as the meaning is complete in the arrangement of the Qur'an. Rather, it is possible to refute their saying that the things which Allah has written as eternal and remaining, like the enjoyment of the people of Paradise and others, have their book and no term for it.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Allah erases what He wills and affirms﴾. Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "and affirms" with the emphasis on the letter 'b'. Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, and Asim read it with the lightening of it. People have been confused regarding the meaning of these words. What can be summarized regarding its difficulty is that we believe that the things which Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has decreed in eternity, and knew them in a certain state, cannot be erased or changed. They are those which have been written in the Mother of the Book, and by which the decree has preceded. This has been narrated from Ibn 'Abbas and others from the people of knowledge. As for the things which Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has informed that He changes and transfers, like the forgiveness of sins after they have been established, and like the abrogation of a verse after its recitation and the stability of its ruling, in them occurs erasure and affirmation in what the guardians record and similar to that. And as for when the matter is returned to decree and destiny, then Allah has erased what He has erased and affirmed what He has affirmed. And the expression has come in anticipation of the erasure of events. And these matters are in what is initiated from time, so humanity awaits what is erased or what is affirmed, and according to that is their fear, hope, and supplication. And a group among them, Al-Hasan, said: it is in the terms of the children of Adam. This is because Allah, glorified and exalted is He, on the Night of Decree - and it was said: the Night of the Middle of Sha'ban - writes the terms of the dead, so some are erased from the register of the living and affirmed in the register of the dead. And Qais ibn 'Ubad said: the tenth of Rajab is the day Allah erases what He wills and affirms.

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

This specification regarding the time periods or otherwise has no meaning. Rather, what is good among the sayings here is that which is general in all matters. From that is that the meaning of the verse is that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, changes matters according to their states. I mean, whatever is subject to change as we have mentioned, He erases from that state and establishes it in the one to which He has transferred it. It has been narrated from 'Umar and Ibn Mas'ud that they used to say in their supplication: "O Allah, if You have written us in the record of wretchedness, erase us and establish us in the record of happiness, for indeed You erase what You will and establish." This is a supplication for the forgiveness of sins and in the context of their fear. That is: O Allah, if we are wretched due to our disobedience to You, and sins and wretchedness have been written against us, erase them from us with forgiveness and obedience. In the wording of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, in some narrations, there is some of this, and their supplication was not at all for the alteration of a previous decree, nor is that to be interpreted for them.

It is said that this verse was revealed because when the Quraysh heard the saying of Allah, glorified and exalted is He: "And it is not for a messenger to bring a sign except by the permission of Allah," they said: "There is no ability or share for Muhammad in this matter." So the verse "Allah erases what He wills and establishes" was revealed. That is: Perhaps Allah has permitted from that which you dislike after He had not permitted.

Al-Tabari narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that he said: "Allah erases what He wills and establishes from the affairs of His servants, except happiness and wretchedness and lifetimes, for there is no erasure in them."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is similar to what we established initially in the verse.

It has been reported from a group that they said: "Allah erases what He wills and establishes from the book, except for the Mother of the Book which is with Him, from which nothing is changed." And a group said: "Its meaning is: He erases everything He wills and establishes everything He desires," and similar to these sayings which are easy to oppose. Al-Tabari narrated from Ibrahim al-Nakha'i that Ka'b said to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: "O Commander of the Faithful, if it were not for a verse in the Book of Allah, I would inform you of what will happen until the Day of Resurrection." He said: "What is it?" He said: "His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'Allah erases what He wills and establishes, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.'" Abu al-Ma'ali mentioned in the summary that 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, is the one who said this statement attributed to Ka'b, and that is with me - it is not authentic from 'Ali.

The expressions of the interpreters also differ in interpreting "the Mother of the Book." Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: "It is the remembrance." And Ka'b said: "It is the knowledge of Allah regarding what He creates and what His creation does."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The most correct interpretation of "the Mother of the Book" is that it is the record of the affairs that have been decreed regarding what will happen, and it has been decreed that it will not be changed. The erasure and establishment remain in the matters that have been decreed to be changed, erased, and established. Qatadah said something similar to this, and a group said: The meaning of "the Mother of the Book" is: the lawful and the unlawful. This is the saying of al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan.