His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And do not walk upon the earth with arrogance. Indeed, you will never tear the earth apart, nor will you reach the mountains in height." "All of that, its evil is hated by your Lord." "This is from what your Lord has revealed to you of wisdom. And do not make with Allah another deity, lest you be thrown into Hell, blamed and driven away." "Has your Lord chosen for you sons and taken for Himself daughters from the angels? Indeed, you are saying a great saying."

The majority read: "marahan" with a فتح (fatha) on the راء (ra), which is a noun from: مَرِحَ يَمْرَحُ if he walks proudly, happy with his worldly affairs, turning towards his comfort. This is the meaning of مَرَح. Thus, it was prohibited for man in this verse to walk on the earth in this manner. Then it was said to him: Indeed, you will not cut the earth nor traverse it with your walking, and you will not reach the heights of the mountains. So if you do not stand equal on the earth with your walking, it is more appropriate and rightful for you to limit yourself to what the truth necessitates in walking and conduct. The Prophet ﷺ was addressed by this verse, and the intended audience is all people.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The inclination of a person towards hunting and similar activities without a need for that falls under this verse. As for a man who takes a rare moment in the day to relax and enjoys himself in leisure, to help him with an act of righteousness such as reading knowledge or praying, then that does not fall under this verse, may Allah be pleased with him.

A group read - as narrated by Ya'qub -: "marihan" with a كسر (kasra) on the راء (ra) in the form of the active participle. This meaning corresponds to this reading. However, another meaning mentioned by Al-Tabari with the first reading is more suitable, which is that His saying: "Indeed, you will not tear the earth apart, nor will you reach the mountains in height" means: O the proud and arrogant one, do not tear the earth, nor reach the mountains with your pride and arrogance. He used the words to convey this meaning, and this is fitting with the reading with a كسر (kasra) of مَرَح, because a person was prohibited at that time from adopting the character of مَرَح in all his times, since walking on the earth does not separate from him. Thus, he was only prohibited from being مَرَح. In contrast, with the other reading, it was only prohibited for one who is not مَرَح to walk in some of his times in a مَرَح manner, which leads to the interpretation of مَرَح - with a كسر (kasra) - as meaning the arrogant and boastful one.

And tearing the earth means cutting it, and الخَرْق (kharq) refers to the vastness of the earth. From this is the saying of the poet:

And with a tear I surpassed its unknown With a wide tear that has become weary.

And a hole in the earth is called a خَرْق (kharq), but this meaning is not in the verse. From this is the saying of Ru'bah ibn al-Ajjaj:

And the depths are empty of the penetrated.

And Al-Jarrah and the Arab read: "You will not tear the earth" with a ضم (dhamma) on the راء (ra), and Abu Hatim said: This language is not known.

And His saying, exalted is He: "All of that was evil in the sight of your Lord." Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, Abu Ja'far, and Al-A'raj read: "evil". And Asim, Ibn Amer, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Al-Hasan, and Masruq read: "its evil" by attributing "evil" to the pronoun. The reference - according to the first reading - is to what has been previously mentioned of what is prohibited, such as the saying: "Uff!", slandering people, and frivolity, and other than that. The reference - according to the second reading - is to all that has been mentioned in these verses of good and disobedience. Then the mention of the evil among it is specified as being disliked by Allah, exalted is He. As for the one who read: "its evil" by attributing it to the pronoun, the grammatical analysis of his reading is clear: "evil" is the subject of "was", and "disliked" is its predicate. As for the one who read: "evil" it is the predicate for "was". People differed in the grammatical analysis of "disliked". A group said: It is a second predicate for "was", based on the wording of "all", and "evil" is based on the meaning in all these previously mentioned things. Some of them said: It is an adjective for "evil" because when its feminine form is not real, it is permissible to describe it with a masculine form.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, weakened it. Abu Ali Al-Farisi said: When the feminine is mentioned in the masculine, it is necessary that what follows it be in accordance with it. It is only lenient to precede the action attributed to the feminine while it is in the form of what is attributed to the masculine. Do you not see that the poet's saying:

"A certain cloud has rained and its rain has fallen, and no land has been left unwatered"

is considered ugly by them? If someone were to say: "The land has been watered", it would not be ugly. Abu Ali said: However, it is permissible in His saying, exalted is He: "disliked" to be a substitute for His saying: "its evil". He said: And it is permissible for it to be a state of the masculine in His saying: "in the sight of your Lord", and His saying: "in the sight of your Lord" could be in the position of the description for "its evil". Abdullah ibn Mas'ud read: "was its evils", and it was narrated from him: "was evils" without the 'h', and it was narrated from him: "was its badness". Al-Tabari went to the view that all these prohibitions are connected to His saying first: "And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him" [Al-Isra: 23], and that is not clear.

His saying, exalted is He: "That is from what your Lord has revealed to you." The reference of "that" is to these manners that are included in these preceding verses, meaning: these are from the decisive actions that the wisdom of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, requires for His servants and His creation, which include good morals. And "wisdom" refers to the firm laws of meanings and virtuous actions. Then He connected His saying, exalted is He: "And do not make" to what has preceded of the prohibitions. The address is to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the intended audience is all those who hear the verse from mankind. And "the banished" refers to the humiliated and distanced.

'And His saying, the Most High: "Did your Lord choose for you sons?" This verse is an address to the Arabs who used to say: 'The angels are the daughters of Allah.' So Allah, the Most High, established them upon this argument, meaning: 'O you humans, you have the superior lineage, and for Allah are the daughters?' When this disparity in their saying became apparent, Allah magnified their falsehood and its ugliness. Its meaning is: great in the abominable and the vile. And "He chose you" means: He made you the people of the chosen ones. Al-Tabari narrated from Qatadah from some of the scholars that he said: This verse was revealed concerning the Jews because they said this statement, that the angels are the daughters of Allah. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first interpretation is that which the majority of the commentators hold.