His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿He said, 'So get out of it, for indeed you are accursed.'﴾ ﴿And indeed, upon you is the curse until the Day of Judgment.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'My Lord, then grant me respite until the Day they are resurrected.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'So indeed, you are among those who are granted respite.'﴾ ﴿Until the Day of the known time.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'My Lord, because You have led me astray, I will surely make [evil] attractive to them on earth, and I will surely mislead them all.'﴾ ﴿Except for Your chosen servants among them.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'This is a path [of return] upon Me that is straight.'﴾ ﴿Indeed, My servants, there is no authority over them for you, except for whoever follows you of the deviators.'﴾ ﴿And indeed, Hell is the promised place for them all.'﴾ ﴿It has seven gates; for every gate is of them a portion designated.'﴾

The pronoun in 'from it' refers to Paradise, even though it has not been mentioned; it is implied in the story. It is possible that the pronoun returns to the form of the angels. 'The accursed' means the one who is cursed by words and insults, and 'the Day of Judgment' is the Day of recompense. From it is the saying of the poet:

'And nothing remains except enmity, As we dealt with them, so they dealt with us.'

And Iblis asked for respite until the Day of resurrection, and Allah granted him that until a known time. There is a difference regarding this: it is said until the Day of Resurrection, meaning he will be the last of creation to die, as stated by Al-Tabari and others. It is said until an unspecified time, neither marked by Resurrection nor otherwise; rather, its knowledge is with Allah alone. It is said that his matter was until the Day of Badr, and that he was killed on the Day of Badr. This, although narrated, is weak. The 'granted respite' means the delayed one. His saying 'My Lord' despite his disbelief can be understood as acknowledging Lordship and creation, which is apparent from his state and what the verses and hadiths imply, and this does not negate the essence of his disbelief.

And his saying: ﴿Because You have led me astray﴾ Abu Ubaidah and others said: 'He swore by leading astray,' as if he placed it in the position of his saying: 'My Lord, by Your power over me and Your decree.' It is possible that it is due to the reason, as if he said: 'My Lord, by Allah, I will surely mislead them because of Your leading me astray and for that reason.' It is also possible that the meaning is a show of strength from him and an exaggeration in seriousness, meaning: 'By my state and my distance from good, I will surely do it and I will mislead.' And the meaning of ﴿I will surely make [evil] attractive to them on earth﴾ refers to desires and sins. The pronoun in 'to them' refers to the offspring of Adam, even though they have not been mentioned; the story in its entirety where it occurred completely includes them, and misleading means leading astray.

Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, Al-Hasan, and Al-A'raj read: 'the chosen ones' with the opening of the letter (p-293), meaning those whom You have chosen for Your worship and piety. The majority read with the breaking of the letter, meaning those who have sincerely believed in You and in Your messengers.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿He said: This is a straight path for Me﴾, the speaker is Allah, glorified and exalted is He. It is possible that this is through an intermediary. And Al-Dhahhak, Humayd, Al-Nakha'i, Abu Rujay, Ibn Sirin, Qatadah, Qays ibn Abbad, Mujahid, and others read: "Aliyyun Mustaqimun" from the highness and elevation. The reference of "this" - according to this reading - is to sincerity. When Iblis was excluded from those who are sincere, Allah said to him: This sincerity is a lofty, straight path that you cannot reach with your misguidance. The majority of people read: "Alayya" with a doubled open 'ya'. The reference of "this" - according to this reading - is to the division of people into the misguided and the sincere. When Iblis divided the people into these two categories, Allah said to him: This is a path to Me, meaning: This is a matter whose outcome is to Me. The Arabs say: "Your path in this matter is upon so-and-so", meaning: To him is where the consideration of your matter goes. This is similar to His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, your Lord is surely observing﴾ [Al-Fajr: 14]. And the verse - according to this reading - is a report that contains a warning.

Then He began to inform about the safety of His righteous servants from Iblis, and addressed him by saying that he has no authority over them nor any power.

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

And the apparent meaning of His saying: "My servants" is specific to the people of faith and piety, not the generality of creation. According to this, ﴿Except for whoever follows you﴾ is an exception from the non-first, and the estimation is: But whoever follows you from the misguided, you have authority over them. And if we take the servants generally as the worshippers of people, since Allah did not decree for Iblis any authority over anyone, we estimate the exception at least in the degree from where there is no degree for the disbelievers. The first consideration is more correct, and the aim is not to fall into the exception of the majority from the minority, even if the jurists have permitted it. And Abu Al-Ma'ali said: It is not well-known in the usage of the Arabs, and this verse is the most exemplary of what the permitters have used as evidence.

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

And they have no proof in the verse for what I have explained.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And indeed, Hell is their appointed place," means the location of their gathering. The appointed time relates to both time and place, and the place may be mentioned without specifying the time of the appointment. And "all together" is an emphasis, and it has the meaning of the state. And His saying: "It has seven gates," it is said that the fire in its entirety has seven layers, the highest of which is Jahannam, then Ladhah, then Al-Hatamah, then As-Sa'ir, then Saqar, then Al-Jahim, in which is Abu Jahl, then Al-Hawiyah. And indeed, in each layer there is a gate, so the gates - on this - are some above others. And in this verse, He referred to the fire in general as Jahannam, for it is the most well-known of its abodes and the first of them. It is the place of the disobedient believers who will not remain forever. And for this, it has been narrated that Jahannam will be destroyed and worn out. And it is said that the fire has layers as we mentioned, but the seven gates are all in Jahannam on a level line, then from each gate, it descends to the layer that it leads to. I have summarized what the commentators have mentioned regarding the distances between the gates, and in the air of the fire, and in the manner of the state, as there are many sayings, most of which are not based on evidence, and they are in the realm of what is permissible, and the power is greater than that. May Allah protect us from His fire and envelop us in His mercy by His grace.

And His saying: "A part," the majority read it with a hamzah, and Ibn Shihab read it with a dammah on the zay, and a group read it as "Juzz" with a shaddah on the zay without a hamzah, and this is the reading of Ibn Al-Qaqa.