His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Until when they see what they are promised, either the punishment or the Hour, then they will know who is worse in position and weaker in soldiers" [Maryam: 75]. "And Allah increases those who are guided in guidance, and the lasting good deeds are better with your Lord for reward and better for return". "Have you seen the one who disbelieved in Our signs and said, 'I will surely be given wealth and children'?". "Has he looked into the unseen, or has he taken with the Most Merciful a covenant?". "No! We will write what he says and extend for him from the punishment extensively". "And We will inherit from him what he says, and he will come to Us alone".

"Until" in this verse is a particle of beginning that has entered upon a sentence, and it has the meaning of the goal. "If" is a condition, and its answer is in His saying, exalted is He: "Then they will know" [Maryam: 75]. And "the sight" is the sight of the eye, and "the punishment" and "the Hour" are in place of "what" that "they saw". And "either" is the one that introduces doubt at the beginning of the speech, and the second is an addition to it. And "the punishment" refers to the punishment of this world and the victory of the believers over them. And "the soldiers" are the supporters and those who are responsible for the matter of war. And "worse in position" is in contrast to their saying: "better in position", and "weaker in soldiers" is in contrast to their saying: "better in support".

And when he mentioned the misguidance of disbelief, and their confusion in the trial by the blessings of this world, and their blindness from the straight path, he followed that by mentioning His blessing upon the believers, that He increases them in guidance in connection to good deeds, and knowledge of the clear signs, and an increase in knowledge as a habit. Al-Tabari said about some of them: the meaning is by the abrogating and abrogated parts of the Qur'an.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is an example.

And "the lasting good deeds" is a reference to that guidance which Allah increases for them, and these blessings are better with Allah for reward and better for return.

And the saying about the increase in guidance is clear and evident.

And "the lasting good deeds" are every good deed by which Allah raises the rank of its doer. Al-Hasan said: It is the obligatory acts. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: It is the five prayers. It has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that they are the well-known words: "Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest." For he, peace be upon him, said to Abu Darda, may Allah be pleased with him: "Take them before you are prevented from them, for they are the lasting good deeds, and they are among the treasures of Paradise." It has been narrated from him, peace be upon him, that he said one day: "Take your shield!" They said: O Messenger of Allah, from an enemy that has come? He said: "From the Fire." They said: What is it, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah, and there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest, and they are the lasting good deeds." And Abu Darda, may Allah be pleased with him, when he mentioned this hadith would say: "I will certainly glorify Allah, and I will certainly declare His greatness, and I will certainly praise Him, until if a fool sees me, he thinks I am crazy."

His saying, exalted is He: "Have you seen the one who disbelieved in Our signs?" The letter 'fa' in His saying: "Have you seen" is a conjunction after the thousand of interrogation. It is a conjunction of sentence to sentence. And "the one who disbelieved" means by it Al-'Asi ibn Wa'il Al-Sahmi, this is what the majority of the commentators have said. And the report is that "Khabbab ibn Al-Arat was a blacksmith in the pre-Islamic period. He worked for him and a debt accumulated for him. He came to him to collect it, and Al-'Asi ibn Wa'il said to him: I will not pay you until you disbelieve in Muhammad. Khabbab said: I will not disbelieve in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, until Allah causes you to die and then raises you. Al-'Asi said: Am I to be raised after death? Khabbab said: Yes. Al-'Asi said: Then if that is the case, I will have wealth and children, and at that time I will pay you your debt. Then the verse was revealed regarding that."

And Al-Hasan said: The verse was revealed regarding Al-Walid ibn Al-Mughira.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And Al-Walid also had sayings that resemble this aim.

Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr read: "and children" in the meaning of the generic noun, with the 'wa' and 'lam' opened. Likewise in all that is in the Qur'an, except in Surah Nuh, for they both read with the 'wa' closed and the 'lam' silent. Nafi', Asim, and Ibn Amir read with the 'wa' opened in all the Qur'an. Hamzah and Al-Kisai read: "and children" with the 'wa' closed and the 'lam' silent, and likewise in all the Qur'an. Ibn Mas'ud read: "child" with the 'wa' broken and the 'lam' silent, and he disagreed with the 'wa' closed. Some of them said: It is the plural of child like lion and lions, and they supported it with the saying of the poet:

I have indeed seen a group that has produced wealth and children.

And some of them said: It is singular, and they supported it with the saying of the poet:

Would that so-and-so was in his mother's womb, and would that so-and-so was the child of a donkey.

Abu Ali, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In the reading of Hamzah and Al-Kisai, what was singular was intended as singular, and what was plural was intended as plural. Al-Akhfash said: The child is the son, and the children are the family and the parent. And others said: The children are the womb from which he is, as Abu Ali narrated in Al-Hujjah.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Has he knowledge of the unseen?" is a stopping point, and the 'alif' is for questioning, and it has been omitted in connection due to sufficiency. And 'taking covenants' means: through faith and righteous deeds. And 'No' is a reprimand and a deterrent. Then, glorified and exalted is He informed that the saying of this disbeliever will be written, meaning it will be preserved upon him and he will be punished by it. And 'Asim' and 'al-A'mash' read: 'It will be written' with a rounded 'ya'. And Abu 'Amr', 'al-Husayn', and 'Isa' read: 'We will write' with a 'noon'. And 'the prolonging of punishment' is its extension and magnification. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "What he says" means: these things that he has named. And He said that he will be given them in the Hereafter; Allah will inherit what he has of them in this world by destroying him and leaving them. So, inheritance is borrowed, and it is possible that his disappointment in the Hereafter is like the inheritance of what he hoped for. In the readings of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him: "And We will inherit from him what he has." And al-Nahhas said: "And We will inherit from him what he says," meaning: We will preserve it upon him to punish him. And from this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "The scholars are the heirs of the prophets," meaning: the preservers of what they said.

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

So, it is as if this criminal inherits this saying. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And he will come to us alone" implies his humiliation.