'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, the Exalted, said: "And they ask you about the soul. Say, 'The soul is from the command of my Lord. And you have not been given of knowledge except a little.'" "And if We willed, We could take away what We have revealed to you. Then you would not find for yourself therein a guardian." "Except as a mercy from your Lord. Indeed, His favor upon you has been great." "Say, 'If mankind and jinn gathered to bring the like of this Qur'an, they would not bring the like of it, even if some of them were to be supporters of others.'" The pronoun in 'they ask you' is said to refer to the Jews and that the verse is Medinan. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud narrated that he was with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when he passed by a field in Medina - and it is narrated as a barren one - and there was a group of Jews in it. Some of them said to one another: 'Ask him about the soul, for if he answers in it, you will know that he is not a prophet.' The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is because it was with them in the Torah that the soul is something that Allah alone has knowledge of, and no one among His servants is informed about it. Ibn Mas'ud said: And some of them said: 'Do not ask him, lest he come with something you dislike.' The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: He means - and Allah knows best - that he does not explain it so that the proof against them in his prophethood becomes stronger. He said: So they asked him, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, stood leaning on a palm branch, and I thought that he was being inspired. Then he recited to them the verse. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And it is said that the verse is Meccan, and the pronoun refers to Quraysh. This is because they said: 'We will ask about Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, the people of the Book among the Jews.' So they sent to them in Medina Al-Nadr ibn Al-Harith and 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ait. The Jews said: 'Test him with three questions: Ask him about the People of the Cave, and about Dhul-Qarnayn, and about the soul. If he explains the three, then he is a liar, and if he remains silent about the soul, then he is a prophet.' So Quraysh asked him about the soul, and it is narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to them: 'Tomorrow I will inform you about it,' and he did not say: 'If Allah wills.' So revelation was withheld from him for fifteen days as a reprimand for his promise to them without exception. Then this verse was revealed.

(p-535) People have differed regarding the spirit in question, which spirit is it? A group, which is the majority, said: The question pertains to the spirit that is in living beings, what is it? The spirit is a name of a genus in this regard, and this is the correct view, and it is the problematic matter that has no explanation. And Qatadah said: The spirit in question is Gabriel, peace be upon him. He said: Ibn Abbas used to keep this hidden. Another group said: It is Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon them. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: (An angel with seventy thousand faces, in each face seventy thousand tongues, for each tongue seventy thousand languages, glorifying Allah, glorified and exalted is He, in all those languages. From each glorification, an angel is created that flies with the angels until the Day of Resurrection, as mentioned by Al-Tabari. I do not think this saying is authentic from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. Another group said: The spirit is the Qur'an. All of these are interpretive sayings, and the first is the most apparent and correct of them. And His saying: ﴿From the command of my Lord﴾ has two possible interpretations: One is that

And there was a difference regarding who was addressed by that. A group said: only the questioners. Al-Tabari translated that, then included under the translation from Qatadah that they are the Jews. Another group said: the intended meaning is the Jews as a whole, and this is the reading of Ibn Mas'ud. Another group said: the entire world, and this is the correct view; because Allah, the Exalted, saying to him: ﴿Say: The Spirit﴾ is indeed a command to speak to all of the world; for all of His sayings are like this, and thus the verse is completed by addressing everyone. It is also possible that it is an address from Allah, the Exalted, to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and to all of mankind. What exists among all of mankind in terms of knowledge is characterized by its scarcity when compared to the knowledge of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, which is in these matters of which we have only a very small portion of knowledge, as Al-Khidr, peace be upon him, said to Musa, peace be upon him: "The knowledge of me and your knowledge and the knowledge of the creatures does not diminish the knowledge of Allah except as this bird diminishes from the sea." Al-Khidr intended by this the knowledge of Allah regarding these existences that humans have only a very small portion of knowledge about, in relation to what is hidden from them, the proportion of a dot to the sea. As for the knowledge of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in absolute terms, it is limitless. It is also possible that there is a figurative expression in the saying of Al-Khidr, peace be upon him: "as this bird diminishes," meaning: our knowledge does not diminish anything from the knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, in absolute terms, then he exemplified it by the pecking of the bird in the absence of deficiency; for its deficiency is not perceptible, so it is as if it is nonexistent. This is a possibility, but there is a consideration in it. The Jews said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: How have we not been given knowledge except for a little, while we have been given the Torah, which is wisdom? And whoever is given wisdom has indeed been given much good? The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, opposed them with the knowledge of Allah, and they were defeated. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, stated in some hadiths with his words: "All of it." He meant that the intended meaning of "You have been given" is all of the knowledge. This is because the Jews said to him: Did you mean us or your people? He said: "All of it." In this meaning, the verse was revealed: ﴿And if all the trees on earth were pens﴾ [Luqman: 27]. Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated that.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And if We willed, We could take away what We have revealed to you﴾, the verse contains severity towards the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and it is a reprimand for his saying: "Tomorrow I will inform you." He was commanded to say: Indeed, the Spirit is from the command of my Lord, so he submits to Allah in that He informs whom He wills and withholds from His servants what He wills. Then it was said to him: And what you have been given, O Muhammad, and all of the creatures in knowledge is only a little. For Allah, the Exalted, informs whom He wills of His knowledge and withholds what He wills. And if He willed, He could take away the revelation that has come to you, then you would have no supporter against it. It is not significant that you do not come with an explanation of the Spirit that you intended to explain to the people and promised them with that. Ibn Mas'ud narrated that a red wind will come from the direction of Sham and will remove the Quran from the manuscripts and from the hearts, and it will take it away, then he will recite this verse.

(p-537) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Ibn Mas'ud intended by reciting the verse to indicate that the matter is permissible to occur, so that the truth of his report from the Book of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, may be evident. And 'the Guardian' is the one who is in charge of the matter in support or in dispute, and similar to that in terms of the existence of benefit.

And His saying, the Exalted, 'except for a mercy' is an exception that is disconnected, meaning: but a mercy from your Lord holds that upon you. And this disconnected exception specifies something specific, and it is not like the connected one; because the connected one specifies from the genus or the statement, while the disconnected one specifies something foreign to that. And no one denies the occurrence of the disconnected in the Qur'an except an outsider, and this has been reported from Ibn Khuwaizd Miqdad. Then he enumerated the greatness of His favor in His selection for Prophethood, and His protection from the polytheists, among other things that cannot be counted.

And His saying, the Exalted, 'Say: If the humans and the jinn gathered...' the verse.

The reason for this verse is that a group from Quraysh said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: O Muhammad, we have come with a strange verse other than this Qur'an, for we are capable of bringing something like this. So this verse was revealed, declaring their inability, informing that all of creation, humans and jinn, if they gathered upon that, would not be able to do it.

And the inability to oppose the Qur'an has occurred in its structure and arrangement for its meanings. The reason for that is the encompassing knowledge that no one possesses except Allah, the Exalted. And humans are necessarily deficient due to ignorance, forgetfulness, negligence, and various types of deficiency. For the arrangement of a word is hidden from them - due to the reasons we mentioned - the most fitting speech for it in meaning. And I have mentioned this issue in the introduction of this collection.

And His saying, the Exalted, 'They will not come with something like it' in a position of affirmation, and 'no' is receiving an oath, and the 'lam' in His saying, the Exalted, 'If' is an indication that is not necessary; it may sometimes be omitted, and this 'lam' may come merely as a confirmation. And the negated verb comes in the subjunctive mood, and this is based on the condition, and from it is the saying of Al-A'mash:

'If you are defeated by us in the dust of battle, do not let us be far from the blood of the people.'

And 'the supporter' is the helper, and from it is His saying, the Exalted: 'And if they support one another against him...' [At-Tahrim: 4] the verse.

(p-539) The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The Arabs understood with their clear understanding in distinguishing speech and their training in it what we do not understand, nor does anyone who has mingled with civilization. They understood the inability to oppose it necessarily and by observation, and the people after them understood it by inference and consideration. Each one attained certain knowledge, but not at the same level. This is just as the companions understood the legislation of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and his actions by observation, which is a necessary knowledge. And we, through the transmission of the mutawatir, have come to know it, so certainty has been attained for all, but in two levels. And the masters of eloquence, who have peculiarities in distinguishing speech, understood the miraculous nature of the Qur'an. Do you not see how Al-Farazdaq understood the poetry of Jarir in the poetry of Dhul-Rumma in his saying:

The ones who are related to Tamim count the verses all of them. And do you not see the story of Jarir in his anecdotes with Al-Farazdaq in the saying of Al-Farazdaq: 'Why do you keep looking around?' And in his saying: 'I looked and it is under the son of Qain.' And do you not see the saying of the Bedouin: 'He was honored and then he judged and cut off'? And do you not see the other’s argument for resurrection by His saying, the Most High: 'Until you visit the graves' [Al-Takathur: 2]? He said: 'Indeed, visiting necessitates departing.' And from this is the knowledge of Bashar in the saying of Abu Amr ibn Al-Ala in the poetry of Al-A'sha: 'And she denied me and what was it that she denied?' And from this is the saying of the Bedouin to Al-Asma'i: 'Who has made the noble in need of taking an oath?' And from their understanding is that they, with their beginnings, bring forth a scattered word that surpasses the refined poetry. And examples of this are preserved, and from that are their conclusive responses, and other than that from their eloquence and their being at the pinnacle of it, just as magic was in the time of Moses, peace be upon him, and medicine in the time of Jesus, peace be upon him. They, with these understandings, acknowledged their inability, and the one who argued from them resorted to the sword, and accepted killing, captivity, and uncovering the sanctities, while he found the way out of that through opposition. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'And likewise, the challenge with ten chapters, and the challenge with a chapter, all occurred on a single level in the systems specifically. And he restricted the ten by the accusation because they said: 'Indeed, the Quran is fabricated.' So he called them after mentioning that to bring forth ten fabricated chapters. And he did not mention the fabrication in the chapter because they had not previously mentioned that, but he said: 'And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down to Our servant, then bring a chapter like it' [Al-Baqarah: 23]. Although the mention of the chapter came with their mention of the fabrication in the chapter of Hud. And the people have differed in this matter - it was said: 'They were called to the chapter similar in structure and the unseen and other than that from the attributes, and that was from the burden of what cannot be borne. So when it became difficult for them, it was alleviated by the call to the fabricated ones, and other than this was said which is resolved upon its attainment.