His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿And We do not descend except by the command of your Lord. To Him belongs what is before us and what is behind us and what is between that. And your Lord is not forgetful.﴾ ﴿The Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, so worship Him and remain patient in His worship. Do you know of any similar to Him?﴾

The majority read: "And We do not descend" with the letter 'n', as if Gabriel, peace be upon him, referred to himself and the angels. Al-A'raj read: "And He does not descend" with the letter 'y', indicating that it is a report from Allah, the Exalted, that Gabriel does not descend. Some of the interpreters have stated this interpretation, but it is refuted by His saying: ﴿To Him belongs what is before us﴾, as it does not align with it. Rather, it is more appropriate to be a report from Gabriel, peace be upon him, that the Qur'an does not descend except by the command of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, at the times He decrees. The reading of Al-A'raj with the 'y' has been narrated, and Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "except by the saying of your Lord."

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them and others said: The reason for this verse is that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, experienced a delay from Gabriel one time. When he came to him, he said: "O Gabriel, I have missed you. Why do you not visit us more than you do?" So this verse was revealed.

Mujahid and Al-Dahhak said: The reason for it is that Gabriel, peace be upon him, delayed from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when he said in the previous questions in Surah Al-Kahf: "Tomorrow I will inform you," until the polytheists rejoiced at that, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, became concerned. Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, came, and this verse was revealed in that context, so it is like that which is in Al-Duha.

And this 'wa' in His saying: ﴿And We do not descend﴾ is a conjunction linking one statement to another, and it connects the two sayings, even if their meanings are not the same. Al-Naqqash reported from some that His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿And We do not descend﴾ is connected to His saying: ﴿Indeed, I am the Messenger of your Lord to give you a pure boy.﴾ [Maryam: 19].

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a weak statement.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿To Him belongs what is before us and what is behind us and what is between that﴾ is a phrase that requires three levels of understanding. The interpreters have differed regarding it. Abu Al-Aliyah said: What is before us refers to this world entirely until the first blowing of the trumpet, and what is behind refers to the Hereafter from the time of resurrection, and what is between that refers to the time between the two blowings. Ibn Jurayj said: What is before us is the time that has passed before the existence of those in the mind, and what is behind is what comes after their death until the continuation of the Hereafter, and what is between that is the duration of life.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The purpose of the verse is to indicate the ownership of Allah, the Exalted, over His angels, and that their little and much of actions is only by His command, and their movement from one place to another is only for His service; for the places belong to Him and they belong to Him. If the verse were to imply that what is meant by what is before us and what is behind us are the places in which they act, and that what is meant by what is between that are themselves and their ranks, it would have been a valid interpretation, as if it said: We are bound by the ability, we do not move or descend except by the command of your Lord.

Ibn Abbas and Qatadah said - in what has been narrated and what I see as correct from them -: What is between the hands is the Hereafter, and what is behind is the world.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This meaning is flawed except by likening it to a place, as if what is between the hands is what has preceded. Its existence in time is like that of the Torah and the Gospel in relation to the Qur'an. And the saying of Abu al-Aliyah can only be imagined in the context of the children of Adam. This statement is for the angels, so reflect upon it.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And your Lord was not forgetful" means: He is not among those who are afflicted by forgetfulness regarding sending us to you at the time of benefiting from it. This is only by His decree, meaning: So do not seek, O Muhammad, a visitation greater than what Allah has willed. This is what the strength of the speech necessitates regarding the singular interpretation, or do not be concerned, O Muhammad, about my delay, and do not pay attention to the joy of the polytheists regarding that according to the second interpretation. And "forgetful" is a term derived from forgetfulness and being oblivious to matters. A group said: "forgetful" means: abandoning.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In this, there is weakness because forgetfulness has been negated absolutely, and that can apply to the forgetfulness that is textual. As for abandonment, it cannot be negated absolutely. Do you not see His saying, the Blessed and Exalted: "And He left them in darkness" [Al-Baqarah: 17], and His saying: "And We left some of them that day surging over others" [Al-Kahf: 99]? If He had said: He forgot you, or something similar as a restriction for them, it would be correct to interpret it as abandonment. And we do not need to say that the restriction is in intention because the other meaning is clearer. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "And what is between that and your Lord has not forgotten you," and Abu al-Darda narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "What Allah has made lawful in His Book is lawful, and what He has forbidden is forbidden, and what He has remained silent about is His concession, so accept it," then he recited this verse.

And His saying, the Exalted: "Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them" is the verse. "Lord" is a substitute for His saying: "And your Lord was not forgetful." And His saying: "So worship Him and be patient in His worship" is a command to bear the burdens of the Shari'ah and an indication of their difficulty, such as jihad, pilgrimage, and almsgiving. It is a Shari'ah that requires patience. May Allah assist us in it. The majority read: "Do you know" with the lam pronounced, and Ali ibn Nasr read from Abu Amr with the lam merged into the ta, which is the reading of Isa, Al-Amash, Al-Hasan, and Ibn Muhaysin. Abu Ali said: Sibawayh permits merging the lam into the ta, the ta, the dhal, the tha, the sad, the zay, and the seen. And Abu Amr read: "And has it been called to prayer" with the merging into the tha, and merging into the ta is more appropriate because it is more easily pronounced together. And from the merging into the ta is what has been narrated from the saying of Muzahim Al-Aqili:

So leave this, but will you help a lovesick one in the light of another night's lightning?

And His saying: "similar" - a group said - and this is the apparent meaning -: means: agreeing in name.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And it is good in this that he means by the name what has preceded from his saying: ﴿Lord of the heavens and the earth﴾. That is: Do you know who is called by this and is described by this attribute? This is because nations do not call anything by this name, neither an idol nor anything other than Allah, the Exalted. As for divinity and power, the name may be directed in it, and that is by a sharing, not by one meaning. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the meaning of 'sami' is: similar or akin or something like that.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is a good saying, and it is as if 'sami' means 'musami' and 'mudahi', for it is from 'sama'. And this saying is good in this verse and is not good in what has preceded in the mention of Yahya, peace be upon him.