His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"I did not witness their creation of the heavens and the earth, nor the creation of themselves. And I was not one to take the misguiders as supporters."

"And the Day He will say, 'Call My partners whom you claimed.' So they called them, but they did not respond to them. And We made a barrier between them."

"And the criminals saw the Fire and thought they were going to fall into it, and they found no escape from it."

"And certainly We have detailed in this Qur'an for mankind every kind of example. And man was, indeed, the most argumentative of all."

The pronoun in "I did not witness them" refers to the disbelievers and to mankind in general. The verse thus includes a refutation against groups of astrologers, naturalists, and those who claim authority among physicians and others who make baseless claims about these matters. My father, may Allah be pleased with him, told me: I heard the jurist Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Mu'adh al-Mahdawi in al-Mahdiyah say: I heard Abdul Haqq al-Saqali say this statement, and he interprets this [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN:ta'wil] in this verse, and that it is a refutation against these groups.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned this as some of the scholars of principles have said. It is said that the pronoun in "I did not witness them" refers to the offspring of Iblis. Thus, this verse - on this interpretation - includes a belittlement of them. The first saying has a greater benefit, and I say: The intended purpose of the verse is primarily Iblis and his offspring. In this way, the refutation is directed against the mentioned groups, and against the soothsayers and the Arabs who believe them and glorify the jinn when they say: I seek refuge with the Mighty of this valley, as all of these sects are connected to Iblis and his offspring, and they have misled everyone. They are the first intended by the misguiders, and these groups fall under their meaning.

The majority read: "I did not witness them," while Abu Ja'far, Awf al-Aqili, and Ayub al-Sikhtiyani read: "We did not witness them." The majority read: "And I was not one to take," while Abu Ja'far, al-Jahdari, and al-Hasan read differently: "And you were not one to take." The description with "the misguiders" is applicable to the mentioned groups and to the offspring of Iblis, may Allah curse him. And "supporter" is a metaphor for helper and assistant, and it is a comparison to the arm of a human being which he uses for assistance. The majority read: "supporters" with the opening of the 'ayn and the dammah on the dad. Abu Amr and al-Hasan read with both being pronounced with a dammah, while al-Dahhak read with a kasrah on the 'ayn and an opening on the dad. Ikrimah read: "supporters" with a dammah on the 'ayn and a sukoon on the dad. Isa ibn Umar read: "supporters" with an opening on both the 'ayn and the dad, and there are other readings that have not been mentioned.

His saying, exalted is He: "And the Day He will say," is a warning. The meaning is: remember the Day. Talhah, Yahya, Al-A'mash, and Hamzah read: "We will say" with the pronoun of majesty. The majority read: "He will say." Allah, exalted is He, will say to the disbelievers who associated others with Him in this world: "Call upon My partners" in the manner of seeking help from them. His saying: "My partners," means: according to your claims, O polytheists. This is clarified by His saying: "Those whom you claimed." Ibn Kathir and the people of Mecca read: "My partners" with an open 'ya'. The majority read: "My partners" with a hamzah. Among them are those who pronounced it clearly and those who softened it. The term "claim" is always used in the context of uncertainty, and most of it is in falsehood. This verse is an example of that. The highest instances of its usage are when "claimed" means "informed" where the burden of the report is on the informer, as Sibawayh, may Allah have mercy on him, says: "The Khalil claimed." His saying, exalted is He: "So they called upon them, but they did not respond to them," its apparent meaning is that this occurs literally. It is possible that it is a metaphor, as if the thoughts of the disbelievers and their view that those lifeless things do not benefit or avail anything are akin to calling upon them and leaving the response. The first interpretation is clearer.

The interpreters differed regarding His saying, exalted is He: "a place of doom." Abdullah ibn Amr, Anas ibn Malik, and Mujahid said: It is a valley in Hell that flows with blood and pus. Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It separates between the people of the Fire and the believers. His saying - on this -: "between them" is an adverbial phrase. Al-Hasan said: "a place of doom" means enmity, and "between them" - on this - is an adverbial phrase. Some of this group believes that the pronoun in His saying, exalted is He: "between them" refers to the believers and the disbelievers. It is possible that it refers to the polytheists and their deities in this world. As for the first interpretation, the pronoun in it refers to the polytheists and their deities. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: "a place of doom" means destruction, akin to: a location. It is from your saying: And the man remained, and another destroyed him if he perished him. His saying, exalted is He: "between them" - on this interpretation - can be correct as an adverbial phrase. The more apparent meaning is that it is a noun meaning: We made their communication a matter of destruction for them, and "between them" would be the first object of "We made."

Some expressed "the place of doom" as a warning, and this is weak.

Then He, exalted and majestic, informed about the sight of the criminals of the Fire, and their witnessing it, and the knowledge that they will be the ones to experience it. It is commonly understood that "thought" here means certainty.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: If He, exalted is He, had said instead of "they thought": "they were certain," the speech would have been consistent in its exaggeration. However, the expression with thought does not come at all in a context of complete certainty that has been attained by the senses. Rather, the highest degrees of it is that it comes in a context of verified knowledge, but that which was thought did not occur. Otherwise, what occurs and is sensed is hardly expressed in the speech of the Arabs with the term thought. Reflect on this verse, and reflect on the saying of Durayd.

So I said to them, "Assume [that they are] two thousand armed men." And Al-A'mash read: "So they assumed that they would meet it," and likewise in the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud. Abu Amr Al-Dani narrated from Alqamah that he read: "Mu'alaffuha" with a doubled 'fa', meaning 'to wrap'. Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Indeed, the disbeliever will see Hell and think that it is his place of falling from a journey of forty years." And "Al-Masrif" means the alternative, and from it is the saying of Abu Kabir Al-Hudhali:

"Azuhair, is there any alternative for Shaiba? Or is there no eternity for one who gives up?"

And it is taken from turning away from one thing to another. And His saying, the Exalted: "And certainly We have turned [the examples]..." The meaning is: And certainly We have frightened and hoped and elaborated in the explanation, and all of this is by way of representation and approximation for the minds. And His saying: "From every example," means: from every example that has benefit in the intended purpose for them, which is guidance. And His saying, the Exalted: "And man was most of anything contentious" is a concise report implying: So the turning of examples did not benefit them; rather, they are a people who deviate and argue with falsehood. And His saying, the Exalted: "Man" refers to the genus. It has been narrated that the reason for this verse was Al-Nadr ibn Al-Harith, and it was said: Ibn Al-Zib'ari. It was narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, entered upon Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, while he had slept through the night prayer. He woke him and admonished him, and Ali said to him: "Indeed, my soul is in the hand of Allah," and something like this. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, exited while striking his cheek with his hand and saying: "And man was most of anything contentious." Thus, he applied the verse generally to all people, and "Al-Jadal" means contention and argumentation by words. So man is more contentious than anything that argues, be it angels, jinn, or others if assumed. And in His saying, the Exalted: "And man was most of anything contentious" there is a teaching of lamentation over the people, which will become clear later.