'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' The Exalted says: "Your Lord is He who drives the ship for you in the sea so that you may seek of His bounty. Indeed, He has been merciful to you." "And when distress touches you in the sea, lost are those you invoke except for Him. But when He delivers you to the land, you turn away, and man is ever ungrateful." "Then do you feel secure that He will not cause a portion of the land to swallow you or send against you a storm of stones, then you would not find for yourselves a protector?" "Or do you feel secure that He will not return you to it another time and send upon you a hurricane of wind and drown you for what you have disbelieved, then you would not find for yourselves therein a cause of protection?" "Al-Izja'" means the driving of something heavy; either due to weakness or the weight of a load or otherwise. Weak camels are driven, and from it is the saying of Al-Farazdaq: 'On the beasts that are driven by the herds.' And the clouds are driven, and from it is His saying, the Exalted: "Have you not seen that Allah drives the clouds?" [An-Nur: 43]. And the merchandise that is driven is that which, due to its instability, needs to be brought by intercession and pushed by assistance to the one who takes it. And the driving of the ship is its movement by the gentle wind and the oars. And "the ship" here is plural. And "the sea" is the vast water, whether it is sweet or salty. The name has predominated over this well-known, and the ship sails in it. And His saying: "so that you may seek of His bounty" is a phrase that encompasses the sea and the seeking of reward in pilgrimage or in battle or similar. There is no disagreement about the permissibility of riding it for pilgrimage, jihad, and livelihood. There is disagreement about its obligation for pilgrimage, meaning a lot of it. There is disagreement about its dislike for wealth and increase in money. It has been reported that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was informed about riding it for battle in the hadith of Umm Haram. It has been narrated from him that he said: "I will never ride the sea," and this hadith may indicate a personal opinion he had, and it may be that it was revealed to him. And this verse is a reminder of Allah's blessings and bounty upon His servants. And "the distress" refers to the fear of drowning, the inability to walk, and the most terrifying of its states is its turbulence and rolling. And His saying, the Exalted: "lost" means: perished and lost, and it is a phrase of belittlement for one who claims a deity other than Allah, glorified and exalted is He. The meaning in this verse is that the disbelievers only believe that their idols are intercessors and that they have virtue. And each one of them, by nature, knows a knowledge he cannot deny that the idols have no effect in the great calamities. So Allah made them aware of that in the state of the sea. And His saying, the Exalted: "ungrateful" means: ungrateful for the blessings. And "man" here refers to the generality, and everyone hardly fulfills the gratitude to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, as it should be. And Al-Zajjaj said: "man" refers to the disbelievers. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is not brilliant. And His saying, the Exalted: "Then do you feel secure that He will not cause a portion of the land to swallow you?" The meaning is: Do you feel secure, O you who turn away and forget the severity when you have turned to ease, that Allah will not cause your place on land to sink; when you are in the grip of power in the sea and on land. And "the storm" is the sudden occurrence that throws stones and hail and similar things, and from it is the saying of the poet:

Facing the north of the Levant, we are struck by a hail like scattered cotton.

And from it is the saying of al-Akhtal:

The thorny bushes throw hail from their snow, So that it may lie upon the thorny bushes as a heap.

And from it is the hail that struck the people of Lot. Hail is the throwing with small stones, which are small rocks.

Nafi', Asim, Ibn Amer, Hamza, and al-Kisai read "yakh'sif" with a 'ya', meaning: Allah will cause to sink, and likewise "yursil" and "yu'eedakum" and "fa-yursil" and "fa-yughriqakum". Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read all of that with a 'noon'. Abu Ja'far and Mujahid read "fa-tughriqakum" with a 'ta', meaning the wind. Hamid read "fa-nughriqakum" with a 'noon' softly, and he merged the 'qaf' into the 'kaf'. It was narrated from Abu Amr and Ibn Muhaysin. Al-Hasan and Abu Rajaa read "fa-nughrriqakum" with a strong 'ra'.

"Al-Wakeel" is the one who manages affairs, and "al-Qasif" is the one who breaks everything that is thrown and strikes it. "Taaratan" has the plural "taraan" and "tiyar", and its meaning is: another time. Abu Ja'far read "min al-riyah" in the plural.

"Al-Tabi'" is the one who seeks revenge or a debt or something like that, and from it is the saying of the poet:

They went out, and their gazelles went out, as if they were Surely guarantees of determination that seek them.

And from this word is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "If one of you follows a wealthy person, let him follow." The meaning is: You will not find anyone who follows our actions with you and seeks your support.