His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿He said, as for him who wronged, we will surely punish him, then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a punishment of great horror﴾ ﴿And as for him who believed and did righteous deeds, for him is a reward of the best, and we will say to him, concerning our matter, ease﴾ ﴿Then he followed a means﴾ ﴿Until when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rising upon a people for whom We had not made any shelter﴾ ﴿Thus, and We had encompassed what was with him in knowledge﴾

"Wronged" in this verse means: disbelieved. Then He threatened the disbelievers with punishment before the punishment of Allah, and He followed that by mentioning the punishment of Allah because the punishment of Dhul-Qarnayn is what is to come upon them, the one that is reserved for them, the closest in terms of retribution. So when the promise of the believers came, He prioritized the blessings of Allah, the Most High, which is more deserving of the believers, while the other is insignificant. Then He concluded by mentioning His grace in the saying of ease, and making it a saying since all actions are the creation of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, as if He entrusted it and did not consider His earning.

And a group read: "a punishment of great horror" with the 'kaf' pronounced, and a group read: "a punishment of great horror" with the 'kaf' silent. Its meaning is: the horror that is denied by imaginations due to its greatness and is sought after. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', and Asim - in the narration of Abu Bakr - and Abu Amr, and Ibn Amir read: "a reward of the best" by attributing the reward to the best, and that carries two meanings: one of them is that he means by "the best" paradise, and paradise is the reward, so he added that, as He said: ﴿And the abode of the Hereafter﴾ [Yusuf: 109] and the Hereafter is the abode. The second is that he means by "the best" their righteous deeds in their faith, so He promised them a reward for the righteous deeds. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Hafs from Asim read: "the reward of the best" with "the reward" in the accusative as a source in the position of the state. And "the best" is the subject, and its predicate is in the genitive, and it is meant by it paradise. Abdullah ibn Abu Ishaq read: "a reward" in the nominative and with tanween "the best," and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, and Masruq read: "a reward" in the accusative without tanween "the best" with the addition. Al-Mahdawi said: It is permissible to omit the noon due to the meeting of the two silent letters, and their promise of that is that He will make their worldly affairs easy for them. Ibn Al-Qaqa read: "ease" with the 'sin' pronounced.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿Then he followed a means﴾, the meaning is: Then Dhul-Qarnayn took the paths leading to his objective, for they are the means of reaching. Dhul-Qarnayn - according to what has been recorded in the books of history - would tread the earth with heavy armies, and with a praiseworthy conduct, and complete preparation, and vigilant and alert determination, and continuous support, and the piety of Allah, exalted and glorified is He. So he did not encounter a nation nor passed by a city except that it submitted to him and entered into his obedience, and everyone who opposed him and hesitated about his command, he made them a lesson and a sign for others, and there are many reports in this regard, and wonders that I disliked to elaborate on because they are historical knowledge. The majority read "the rising" with the 'lam' broken, and Al-Hasan read differently, and Ibn Kathir, and the people of Mecca read: "the rising" with the 'lam' opened.

And "the people": the blacks, as said by Qatadah, and they are the Indians and those beyond them.

The people said regarding His saying: ﴿We did not make for them any covering besides it﴾ that its meaning is: They do not have a structure, as their land cannot support a building. Rather, they enter from the heat of the sun in groups. It was said that they enter into the water of the sea, as stated by Al-Hasan, Al-Qatadah, and Ibn Jurayj. The commentator and others elaborated on this meaning. The apparent meaning of the words is that it is a profound expression of the proximity of the sun to them, and its effect upon them by the power of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and its reaching them. If they had groups that would suffice, it would be a thick covering. They are, however, in the grasp of power, whether they have groups or houses or do not have them. Do you not see that the covering for us, in truth, is from the clouds and the mist and the coolness of the air? If Allah were to unleash the sun upon us, it would burn us. So, glorified is the One who is unique in complete power.

And His saying: "Thus" means: He acted with them as He acted with the earlier people of the West. So He summarized with His saying: "Thus." Then Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informed about His encompassing knowledge of all that is with Dhul-Qarnayn and what he did of actions. It is possible that "Thus" is a new statement and does not refer back to the first group. Reflect on this, and the first interpretation is more correct.