His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "He said, 'Peace be upon you. I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord. Indeed, He has always been gracious to me.' And I will separate from you and what you invoke besides Allah, and I will invoke my Lord; perhaps I will not be disappointed in invoking my Lord.' So when he separated from them and what they worshipped besides Allah, We granted him Isaac and Jacob, and We made each of them a prophet. And We granted them from Our mercy and made for them a tongue of truth, exalted."

Abu al-Barhasam read: "Peace" in the accusative case. The scholars disagreed on the meaning of his greeting to him. Some of them said: It is the greeting of one who is departing, and they permitted the greeting of a disbeliever and to begin with it. The majority said: That greeting means peace, not in the sense of a greeting. Al-Tabari said: Its meaning is: A safety from me to you, and this is the opinion of the majority, and they do not see it permissible for a disbeliever to begin with peace. Al-Naqqash said: A patient one addressed a foolish one, as He, exalted is He, said: "And when the ignorant address them, they say, 'Peace'" [Al-Furqan: 63]. And the raising of "peace" is permissible at the beginning, and this is allowed even though it is an indefinite noun that has been specified, so it is close to being definite. This is because it is in the position of the accusative, which is: You greeted with peace. This is just as it is permissible in what is in the meaning of the doer, like their saying: "Evil has sharp fangs." This is the statement of Sibawayh, may Allah have mercy on him.

And His saying: "I will ask forgiveness" means: I will invoke Allah, the Exalted, to guide you, so He will forgive you by your faith.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is clearer than to interpret it as if Ibrahim, the intimate friend of Allah, blessings of Allah be upon him, did not know that Allah, the Exalted, does not forgive a disbeliever. It may be that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was the first prophet to be revealed that a disbeliever is not forgiven; because this belief is only known through hearing. Thus, this statement of his to his father was before he was revealed that. And Ibrahim, peace be upon him, only realized in his father that he was an enemy to Allah in one of two ways: either by dying upon disbelief, as has been narrated, or because it was revealed to him that it was a matter of necessity upon him. And Makkī said about Al-Suddī: He delayed asking for forgiveness until dawn.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is an exaggeration, and that was mentioned in the matter of Jacob and his sons. As for this, it is a promise of abundant forgiveness, and the "s" is firmly established.

And "the gracious" means the one who is humble and kind. This is a thankfulness from Ibrahim, peace be upon him, for the blessings of Allah, the Exalted, upon him. Then he informed him that he would separate from them, meaning: he would distance himself from them. It is narrated that they were in the land of Kutha, so Ibrahim, peace be upon him, migrated to the Levant. In that migration, he met the tyrant who took Hagar with Sarah... the hadith is lengthy. And "you invoke" means: you worship. And His saying: "Perhaps" indicates hope, and within it is a great fear.

And His saying: ﴿So when he separated himself from them and from what they worship besides Allah﴾ is news from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, that when Ibrahim, peace be upon him, departed from the land of his father and the land of his people, Allah compensated him for that with his son Ishaq and the son of his son, Yaqub, peace be upon them. The child was made a consolation and a support for him. Ishaq is younger than Ismail. And when Hagar was pregnant with Ismail, Sarah became jealous, so she became pregnant with Ishaq, as has been narrated.

(p-40) His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And We granted them from Our mercy﴾ means knowledge, status, and honor in this world and bliss in the Hereafter. All of that is from the mercy of Allah, and "a tongue of truth" is the lasting praise upon them until the end of time, as said by Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both. And the tongue in the speech of the Arabs is the well-known saying, whether it is good or evil. From this is the saying of the poet:

I have received a tongue that I do not conceal from greatness, there is no falsehood in it nor mockery.

And another said:

I regretted over a tongue that slipped away from me.

And Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and his descendants are revered in all nations and kingdoms. May Allah's blessings be upon them all.

(p-41)