His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿And do not say about what your tongues describe, 'This is lawful and this is unlawful,' to invent lies against Allah. Indeed, those who invent lies against Allah will not succeed.﴾ ﴿A brief enjoyment, and they will have a painful punishment.﴾ ﴿And upon those who were Jews, We prohibited what We have related to you before. And We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.﴾ ﴿Then indeed, your Lord for those who did evil in ignorance, then repented after that and corrected themselves, indeed, your Lord after that is Forgiving and Merciful.﴾

This is an address to the disbelievers who prohibited the البحائر (al-bahā'ir) and السوائب (al-sawā'ib) and permitted what is in the bellies of the animals, even if it is carrion. This is indicated by their saying, as reported: ﴿And if it is carrion, then they are partners in it.﴾ [Al-An'am: 139]. The verse entails all that they had of permissibility and prohibition, for it is all an invention from them, including what they made in the months. The seven reciters and the majority of the people read: 'the lie' (الكَذِبَ) with a fatḥah on the كاف (kāf) and باء (bā') and a kasrah on the ذال (dhāl), and 'ما' (mā) is a source, so it is as if he said: for the description of your tongues. Al-A'raj, Talhah, Abu Ma'mar, and Al-Hasan read: 'the lie' (الكَذِبِ) with a kasrah on the باء (bā') as a substitute for 'ما'. Some of the people of Ash-Sham, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, and Ibn Abi Abla read: 'the lies' (الكُذُبُ) with a ḍammah on the كاف (kāf), ذال (dhāl), and باء (bā'), as a description of the tongues. Muslim ibn Muharib read: 'the lies' (الكُذُبَ) with a fatḥah on the باء (bā') as it is the plural of كذاب (kadhdhab) like كُتُبٍ (kutub) and كِتابٍ (kitāb).

And His saying: ﴿This is lawful﴾ refers to the carrion of the bellies of the animals and all that they permitted, and His saying: ﴿And this is unlawful﴾ refers to the البحائر (al-bahā'ir) and السوائب (al-sawā'ib) and all that they prohibited. And His saying: 'to invent lies against Allah' refers to their saying in their immoralities, one of which is: ﴿We found our forefathers upon it, and Allah commanded us with it.﴾ [Al-A'raf: 28].

It is possible that he means that their legislation was by following traditions that Allah does not approve of, an invention against Him, because whoever legislates a matter is as if he said to his followers: this is the truth, and this is what Allah intends. Then Allah informed them that those who invent lies against Allah will not reach their hopes, and success is reaching hope, so it may be in permanence, as the poet said:

؎ And the evening and the morning have no permanence with it.

It seems that this verse is of this meaning, and this is strengthened by His saying: ﴿A brief enjoyment﴾, and it may be in the success of endeavors, and among it is the saying of Ubaid:

؎ Succeed with whatever you wish, for it may be reached by weakness, and the clever may be deceived.

And His saying: ﴿A brief enjoyment﴾ refers to their living in this world, ﴿And they will have a painful punishment﴾ after that in the Hereafter.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And upon those who are Jews". When He, blessed and exalted, mentioned to the believers what He has prohibited upon them, He also informed them of what He has prohibited upon the Jews. This is to clarify their alteration of the law in what they have made lawful from that and in what they have prohibited from their own selves. And His saying: "What We have recounted to you" is a reference to what is in Surah Al-An'am regarding the claws and fats. And His saying: "And We did not wrong them" means: We did not impose the punishment upon them by prohibiting those things upon them in an inappropriate manner. Rather, they approached that, and what resulted from their clinging to sins necessitated that.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Then indeed, your Lord for those who have done evil in ignorance". This verse is a reassurance for all the scholars. Allah, exalted is He, informed in it that He forgives the repentant. The verse is a reference to the disbelievers who have fabricated against Allah and committed the mentioned deeds. So if they repent from their disbelief with faith and rectify with the deeds of Islam, Allah will forgive them. This encompasses, after that, every occurrence under its wording from disbeliever and sinner. And a group said: Ignorance is intentional wrongdoing, and ignorance in this context is not the opposite of knowledge. Rather, it is transgressing the limits and engaging in obstinacy. From this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Or does one act ignorantly or is acted upon in ignorance against me?" And this is what is in the saying of the poet:

"Let no one act ignorantly against us, So we act in ignorance above the ignorance of the ignorant."

And the ignorance that is the opposite of knowledge often accompanies this other type. However, the intentional wrongdoing emerges from it, which is the most common. Rarely is there found among sinners one who has not previously had knowledge of the prohibition of the sin that is committed. And the pronoun in "after it" refers back to repentance.