His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿So declare what you are commanded and turn away from the polytheists﴾ ﴿Indeed, We have sufficed you against the mockers﴾ ﴿Those who make with Allah another god, so they will surely know﴾ ﴿And We certainly know that your breast is constrained by what they say﴾ ﴿So glorify with praise of your Lord and be among those who prostrate﴾ ﴿And worship your Lord until certainty comes to you﴾

"Declare": Its meaning is: carry out and make clear what you have been sent with. And 'declaring' is the separation between what is joined, like the cracking of glass and similar things. It is as if the one who makes a clear statement is declaring with it what is opposed to it. And 'the crack' refers to the morning, because it breaks the night. Mujahid said: It was revealed regarding the need to recite the Qur'an aloud in prayer.

And in "you are commanded" there is a pronoun referring back to "what," its estimation is: you are commanded with it, or you are commanded it, and in these two there is a dispute. And His saying: ﴿And turn away from the polytheists﴾ is from the verses of reconciliation which were abrogated by the verse of the sword, as Ibn Abbas said. Then Allah, exalted is He, informed him that He had sufficed him against the mockers among the disbelievers of Mecca with calamities that befell them, which Muhammad did not strive for, nor did he exert effort in.

And Urwah ibn al-Zubair and Sa'id ibn Jubair said: The mockers were five men: Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, Al-As ibn Wa'il, Al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, Abu Zam'ah, Al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth, and from Khuzayah, Al-Harith ibn al-Talatilah, who is the son of Ghaytalah, who is the son of Qais. Abu Bakr al-Hudhali said: I said to al-Zuhri: Indeed, Ibn Jubair and Ikrimah disagreed about a man from the mockers. Ibn Jubair said: He is Al-Harith ibn Ghaytalah, and Ikrimah said: He is Al-Harith ibn Qais. Al-Zuhri said: They both spoke the truth; his mother is Ghaytalah and his father is Qais. And Al-Sha'bi mentioned among the mockers Habbar ibn Al-Aswad, and that is an error, for Habbar embraced Islam on the day of the conquest and moved to Medina. And Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Abbas that the mockers were eight, all of whom died before Badr. It has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was in the mosque when Gabriel came to him. Then Al-Walid came, and Gabriel pointed with his finger to his leg and said: You have been sufficed. Then Al-As came, and he pointed to his ankle and said: You have been sufficed. Then Abu Zam'ah came, and he pointed to his eye. Then Al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth passed by, and he pointed to his head and said: You have been sufficed. Then Al-Harith came, and he pointed to his belly and said: You have been sufficed. And Al-Walid had passed by Qain in Khuzayah, and an arrow from his bow got caught in his garment and wounded his leg. Then he healed, but that scratch reopened after Gabriel's indication and killed him. It was said that the arrow cut his eye, as Qatadah and Muqsim said. And Al-As mounted a mule for a need, and when he came down, he placed his ankle on a thorn, and his foot swelled and he died. And Abu Zam'ah went blind, and he used to say: Muhammad prayed against me for blindness, and it was answered for him. And I prayed against him to be a fugitive, and it was answered for me. And the head of Al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth oozed pus and he died. And the belly of Al-Harith filled with water and he died shortly after.

And in the mention of these and their sufficiency, there is a difference among the narrators. Regarding the description of their conditions and what has occurred to them, I have brought the most authentic in summary for the sake of brevity.

Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, affirmed their sin in disbelief and taking idols as deities alongside Allah. Then He threatened them with the punishment of the Hereafter, which is more severe.

And His saying, "And certainly We know that your heart is constrained by what they say," is a verse of reassurance for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and consolation regarding the words of the polytheists, even if they are from what distresses a person. The constriction of the heart occurs from being filled with anger over what a person dislikes. Then He, exalted is He, commanded him to adhere to obedience and that his solace should be in worship during times of distress. And His saying, "from those who prostrate," means: from those who pray. He mentioned from prayer the state of closeness to Allah, exalted is He, which is prostration. It is the most honorable state of prayer and the most conducive to attaining mercy. In the hadith: "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when faced with a matter, would hasten to prayer," this is from him, upon him be blessings and peace, taking from this verse.

And "certainty" is death. Ibn Umar, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, and Ibn Zayd interpreted it this way. From this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, at the death of Uthman ibn Maz'oon: "As for him, he has seen certainty." It is narrated: "He has indeed come to certainty." And certainty is not one of the names of death; rather, knowledge of it is certainty, in which no rational person doubts. Thus, it is called certainty here as a figure of speech, meaning: the certain matter will come to you, its knowledge and occurrence. And this ultimate meaning is: the duration of your life. It is possible that the meaning is: until certainty comes to you in the victory that you have been promised.

We conclude the interpretation of Surah Al-Hijr, and all praise and grace belong to Allah. May Allah send blessings upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions, and peace.