His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, 'We will surely expel you from our land or you must return to our religion.' So their Lord inspired to them, 'We will surely destroy the wrongdoers.'" "And We will surely settle you in the land after them. That is for whoever fears My position and fears My threat." "And they sought victory, and every obstinate tyrant failed." "Behind them is Hell, and they will be given to drink from a festering fluid." (p-232) "They will gulp it, but they can hardly swallow it, and death will come to them from every place, yet they are not to die, and behind them is a severe punishment."

His saying, the Most High: "or you must return to our religion," a group said: "or" here means: "except that," as it is in the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

So I said to him, 'Do not let your eyes weep, for we either seek a kingdom or die and be excused.'

And "or" in the verse can be taken at face value for the occurrence of one of the two matters. They brought their messengers to one of the two sides, and the verse of Imru' al-Qais does not allow that because he did not attempt to die to be excused. Thus, it is understood as meaning "except that," and for this reason, the verb after it is in the accusative. Another group said: it means "until" in the verse, and this is weak. Rather, it is appropriate in his saying: "I will surely compel you or you will fulfill my right," and in his saying: "Neither Zayd will stand nor Amr will stand." In all of these examples, it is good to interpret as "except that." And returning is always to a state that has existed, and the messengers were never in the religion of disbelief. Thus, the meaning is: or you must return to your silence about us, neglecting, and that is among the disbelievers as a state in their religion. And the Most High specified the wrongdoers among those who disbelieved, as it is possible that some of the disbelievers who said the statement are people. Thus, He threatened with destruction those who are committed to wrongdoing.

And His saying: "And We will surely settle you" is addressed to those present, and the intended meaning is them and their descendants. This meaning relates to His saying: "And He will delay you to a specified term," meaning: He will delay you and your descendants. Abu Haywah read: "He will surely destroy" and "He will surely settle you" with the pronoun "y" in both. And His saying: "My position" can mean the source of standing over something with power, and it can mean the place of the servant standing before Him in the Hereafter. Thus, if it is a source, it is the addition of the source to the doer, and if it is a place, it is the addition of the place to its present. That is, the position of reckoning. It is permissible for Him to say: "My position," and it is permissible if He said: "His position," and it is permissible if He said: "The position of presentation and reckoning." This is as you say: "The house of the ruler, and the house of judgment, and the house of the judged." Abu Ubaidah said: "My position" is a metaphor, where I will be placed before Me for reckoning.

'The opening': the request for judgment, and 'the opener': the judge. The meaning is that the messengers sought judgment, meaning they asked Allah, the Most High, to execute judgment by granting them victory and punishing the disbelievers. It is said that rather the disbelievers sought judgment, in the manner of the saying of Quraysh: 'Hasten to us our share' [Sad: 16], and in the manner of the saying of Abu Jahl at Badr: 'O Allah, cut us off from the womb, and bring us what is unknown, so let it come to us in the morning.' This is the saying of Abu Durayd. A group read: 'And seek judgment' with a broken 'ta' meaning the command to the messengers. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Ibn Muhaysin read it this way. 'Failed' means: lost and did not succeed. 'The Compeller': the one who is arrogant in himself who sees no right for anyone over him. It is said that its meaning is: He compels people to what they dislike. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is the understanding from the wording. Qatadah and others expressed 'the Compeller' as the one who refuses to say: 'There is no god but Allah,' and 'the obstinate': the one who is stubborn and does not submit. And His saying, the Most High: 'From behind them,' Al-Tabari and others among the interpreters mentioned that its meaning is: 'From in front of them.' They carried His saying, the Most High: 'And there was behind them a king' [Al-Kahf: 79], and Al-Tabari recited: 'Do you threaten me from behind Banu Riyaah... You lied, your hands will surely be restrained from me.' And the matter is not as mentioned, and 'behind' here is in its proper sense, meaning it is what comes afterward in time. The estimation in these events by front and back is indeed by time. What has preceded is in front, and it is before the hands, as you say in the Torah and the Gospel: they are before the Quran, and the Quran is behind them in this. What has been delayed in time is behind what has preceded. Hence, they say for the child of the child: the behind. And this obstinate Compeller's existence, his disbelief, and his actions are at a certain time, then afterward in time, the matter of Hell will come to him. He said, and the summary of this is that time is likened to a path from which events come from the same direction in succession. What has preceded is in front, and what has been delayed is behind what has preceded. Likewise, His saying: 'And there was behind them' [Al-Kahf: 79], meaning his oppression and dominance will come after their caution and their guarding. And His saying, the Most High: 'And he will be given to drink from water,' and it is not water, but when it is a substitute for water in our custom. Then it was described with 'pus,' as you say: this is a ring of iron. 'Pus': the pus and blood, which is what flows from the bodies of the people of the Fire, as Mujahid and Al-Dahhak said. And His saying: 'He will gulp it down and he can hardly swallow it' is an expression of the difficulty of the matter for them. It is narrated that the disbeliever will be brought a drink from the drink of the people of the Fire, and he will detest it. When it is brought near him, it will scorch his face, and the skin of his head will fall into it. When he drinks it, it will cut his intestines. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this report is scattered in verses from the Book of Allah.

And His saying: "And death will come to him from every place" means from every hair on his body. This was said by Ibrahim al-Taymi. It was also said: from all six directions. And His saying: "And he is not dead" means: he does not find rest in death. And the rest of the verse is like its beginning. The description of the punishment as severe is an exaggeration. And Al-Fudayl ibn Iyad said: the severe punishment is the constriction of breaths in the bodies. It was said that the pronoun in "behind it" here refers to the previous punishment.