His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And signs, and by the stars they are guided." "Is he who creates like one who does not create? Will you not remember?" "And if you count the favor of Allah, you will not be able to enumerate it. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." "And Allah knows what you conceal and what you declare." "And those whom they invoke besides Allah do not create anything, while they are themselves created." "They are dead, not alive, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected."

"Signs" is in the accusative as a source, meaning: He has done these things so that you may take heed from them. And "signs" means a lesson and a notification in every action. Guidance can be found in mountains, rivers, and paths. People have differed in the meaning of His saying: "And signs." The most apparent to me is what I have mentioned. Ibn al-Kalbi said: The signs are the mountains. Ibrahim al-Nakha'i and Mujahid said: The signs are the stars, some of which are called signs, and some by which guidance is sought. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The signs are the landmarks of the roads by day, and the stars are guidance by night.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The correct interpretation—if we consider the statement not to be dependent on what precedes it—is that the term encompasses this and other meanings. This is because everything that indicates something and is known by it is a sign. The best of the mentioned opinions is the saying of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, because it is general in meaning, so reflect on it. My father, may Allah have mercy on him, informed me that he heard some scholars from the East say: In the Indian Ocean, which flows from Yemen to India, there are long, thin fish like snakes in their colors, movements, and twists, and they are called signs. This is because they are a sign of reaching the lands of India and a marker for safety and arrival in India due to the length and difficulty of that sea. Some people said that this is what Allah, exalted is He, intended in this verse. My father, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I am among those who have witnessed those signs in the mentioned sea and have seen them, and many of them have informed me.

The majority read: "And by the stars" as a generic name. Yahya ibn Wathab read: "And by the stars" with the noon pronounced and the jim silent, as a lightening of its pronunciation. Al-Hasan read it with the noon pronounced, and that is plural, like "sac" and "sacs," and "pledge" and "pledges." It is possible that it refers to the stars, and the waw was omitted.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This, in my view, is a weak interpretation. Al-Firuzabadi said: The intended meaning is the kid and the Pleiades. Others said: The intended meaning is the pole star that does not move. Some people said other than this, and some said: It is a generic name, and this is the correct view.

Then He, exalted is He, affirmed the distinction between the one who creates things and invents them and the one who cannot do anything of that. He referred to the idols with "who" for two reasons: One is that the verse includes a refutation of all who worship other than Allah, and there are groups among those to whom the expression "who" applies. The other is that the expression was used for idols according to the belief of the disbelievers in them, that they have influence and actions. Then He reproached them with His saying: "Will you not remember?"

And His saying, exalted is He: "And if you count the favor of Allah, you will not be able to enumerate it," means: if you attempt to count it numerically so that nothing from it is overlooked, you will not be able to do that, nor will you succeed in counting it; for it is in every moment of your conditions. And "the favor" here is singular, intended to mean the plural. According to the inability to count the favors of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, it is necessary that the one who is grateful for them is deficient in some of them. Therefore, He, the Almighty, said: "Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful," meaning your deficiency in gratitude for all of them. Al-Tabari took this direction, and it is responded to by the fact that the favor of Allah, exalted is He, in the saying of the servant: "All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds," along with its condition of intention and obedience, is equivalent to all the favors. However, where is its saying with its conditions? And the address: "And if you count the favor of Allah, you will not be able to enumerate it" is general for all people.

And His saying: "And Allah knows what you conceal and what you declare," is connected to what preceded it, meaning: indeed, Allah is Forgiving regarding your deficiency in gratitude for what you cannot enumerate of the favors of Allah. And indeed, Allah, exalted is He, knows your secrets and your public declarations, so this suffices as a substitute for your obligation to thank every favor. This is according to the reading of those who read: "you conceal" with the 'taa' addressing the believers. For the majority of the reciters read: "you conceal" with the 'taa' from above, and "and you declare" and "and you call upon" likewise, and this is the reading of Al-A'raj, Shaibah, Abu Ja'far, and Mujahid, meaning: say, O Muhammad, to the disbelievers. And Asim read: "you conceal" and "you declare" with the 'taa' from above, and "you call upon" with the 'yaa' from below regarding the absence of the disbelievers, and this is the reading of Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan. And Hubayrah narrated from Hafs from Asim all of that with the 'yaa' regarding the absence of the disbelievers, and it was narrated from Al-Kisai and Abu Bakr from Asim all of that with the 'taa' from above. And Al-Amash and the companions of Abdullah read: "He knows what you manifest and what you conceal" and "and you call upon" with the 'taa' from above in all three. And Talhah read: "what you hide and what you declare" and "and you call upon" with the 'taa' from above in all three. And "you call upon" means: you call upon Him as a god, and He referred to the idols as "those" based on what we have previously mentioned that this encompasses the idols and whoever is worshipped besides Allah and others.

And His saying, exalted is He: "They do not create anything while they are created," is the most comprehensive expression regarding their conditions of lordship. And Muhammad Al-Yamani read: "And those whom they call upon" with the 'yaa' in the nominative and the 'ayn' opened regarding what has not been named its doer.

'And "the dead" refers to those who call upon others besides Allah. It is raised as the beginning of an implied news, the estimation of which is: they are dead. It may also be a news for His saying: "And those who" after the news in His saying: "do not create." He described them as dead metaphorically. What is meant is that they have never accepted life at all nor have they been characterized by it. According to the reading of those who read: "And those who call upon" with the ya, regarding the absence of the disbelievers, it may be intended by the dead the disbelievers whose pronoun is in "they call upon." He likened them to the dead, not the living, in that they are misguidance without guidance. It is appropriate - on this - for them to be included in His saying: "And they do not know when they will be resurrected." The resurrection here is the gathering from the graves. And "when" is a time adverb that is built. Abu Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami read: "when" with a broken hamzah. The opening and the breaking in it are two dialects. A group said: "And they do not know" refers to the disbelievers, "when they will be resurrected" is their pronouns. Another group said: "And they do not know" refers to the idols, when the disbelievers will be resurrected. It is possible that the pronouns refer to the idols as a sign, as you say: "I awakened the sleeper from his sleep" if you alerted him, and as you say: "The archer shot his arrow." So it is as if he described them with the utmost rigidity, meaning: even if you sought their movements by stirring, they would not be aware of that. According to the interpretation of those who see the pronouns referring to the disbelievers, it should be believed in the speech of warning, meaning: and the disbelievers do not know when they will be resurrected for punishment. If this meaning were to be shortened, there would be no benefit in describing them as not knowing and when they will be resurrected; because the angels, the prophets, and the righteous are also in ignorance of the time of resurrection. Some of the interpreters mentioned that His saying: "when they will be resurrected" is an adverb for His saying: "Your God is one God" [An-Nahl: 22], and that the speech was completed in His saying: "And they do not know," then He informed about the Day of Resurrection that the God therein is one, and in this is a threat.