His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And they have taken besides Allah deities so that they may be a source of strength for them﴾ ﴿No! They will disbelieve in their worship of them and they will be against them﴾ ﴿Have you not seen that We have sent the devils upon the disbelievers, urging them with great urging?﴾ ﴿So do not be in haste against them; We only count for them a count﴾ ﴿On the Day We gather the righteous to the Most Merciful as a delegation﴾ ﴿And We drive the criminals to Hell in thirst﴾ ﴿They will not possess intercession except for he who has taken with the Most Merciful a covenant﴾

"Taken" is a form derived from "to take," but it implies preparation from the taker for the taken, and this is not the case in "to take." The pronoun in "they have taken" refers to the worshippers of idols. And "the deities" refers to the idols and everything that is worshipped besides Allah, blessed and exalted is He. The meaning of "a source of strength" is general in support and benefit and other aspects of goodness.

And His saying, exalted is He: "No!" is a rebuke and a response. This meaning is necessary for "No!" For if the rejected statement is explicitly mentioned, the meaning becomes clear. If it is not explicitly mentioned, there must be a rejected matter implied in the saying, as in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿Indeed, man certainly transgresses﴾ [Al-Alaq: 6]. For His saying: ﴿He taught man that which he did not know﴾ [Al-Alaq: 5] implies, along with what precedes it, that man claims for himself and sees that he has some power and does not deeply reflect that Allah taught him what he did not know and bestowed upon him that.

The majority read: "No!" as we have explained. Abu Nuhaik read: "No!" with a fatḥah on the kāf and with tanwīn, as reported by Abu al-Fath. This is an adjective for the deities. Abu Amr al-Dani reported from him "All!" with a ḍammah on the kāf and tanwīn, which is in the accusative case due to an implied verb indicated by "they will disbelieve," its estimation being: they will reject or abandon or deny or something similar.

The interpreters differed regarding the pronoun in "they will disbelieve" and in "in their worship of them." One group said: the first refers to the disbelievers and the second to the worshipped ones, meaning that on the Day of Resurrection, due to the horror upon the disbelievers and the severity, they will be driven to deny disbelief and the worship of idols. This is similar to His saying, exalted is He, in their narration: ﴿By Allah, our Lord, we were not among the polytheists﴾ [Al-An'am: 23]. Another group said: the first refers to the worshipped ones and the second to the disbelievers, meaning that Allah, exalted is He, will give life to the idols by which they deny the worship of the disbelievers and that they will have a sin in that. As for the worshipped ones from the angels and others, this is clear from them. And His saying, exalted is He: "against them" means: they will come to them contrary to what they had hoped, leading them to humiliation against what they had hoped for of strength. This is a general description. Qatadah said: it means: companions. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: it means: helpers. And to Dhuhak, it was said: adversaries. Ibn Zayd said: calamity. And it was said: other than this from what the wording of the Qur'an is more comprehensive and inclusive of the intended meaning. And "against" here is a source used to describe the plural as it is used to describe the singular.

And Al-Tabari narrated from Abu Nuhaik that he read: "All!" in the nominative case, and he raised it with the beginning.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Did you not see that We sent the devils?" The vision is the vision of the heart, and "We sent" means: We empowered, or We did not prevent them from each other, so it is empowerment. It is similar to His saying, exalted is He: "We appoint for him a devil" [Az-Zukhruf: 36]. And its transitive use with "upon" indicates that it is empowerment. And "They urge them" means: They disturb them and incite them towards disbelief and misguidance. Qatadah said: They disturb them with disturbance. Ibn Zayd said: They lead them astray. From this is "uzayru al-qidr," which means its boiling, and from this is what is in the hadith: "I came to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and found him praying while he was weeping, and his chest was making a sound like the sound of a boiling pot."

His saying, exalted is He: "So do not hasten against them," means: Do not be impatient for their punishment and desire its hastening. And His saying: "We count for them a count" means the duration of their blessings and the ugliness of their deeds, so that we may lead them to punishment, either in this world or in the Hereafter. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: We count their breaths.

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

And what is contained in these words of the warning of the punishment of the Hereafter is the operative factor in His saying, exalted is He: "On the Day" and it is possible that a verb is implied, the implication being: Remember, or Beware, and the like. And "Al-Hashr" means: Gathering, and it has become in the custom of the words of the Shari'ah: the resurrection from the graves. Al-Hasan read: "On the Day the righteous are gathered and the criminals are driven," and it has been narrated from him: "And He drives the criminals," and "the righteous" are the believers for whom forgiveness has been granted.

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

The apparent meaning of this gathering is that it is after the accounting is completed, and it is the rising to Paradise. Likewise, "the driving of the criminals" is only for entering the Fire. And "a delegation" the interpreters said: It means riders, and it is the custom of delegations; because they are the nobility of the people and the best in appearance, so He likened the people of Paradise to those, not that they are in the sense of delegation since it implies departure, but rather the intended meaning is to liken them to the delegation in form and honor. It has been narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, that they come riding on camels adorned with the adornments of Paradise, their mouths made of rubies and emeralds and the like. And it has been narrated from Umar ibn Qais al-Malayi that they ride on representations of their righteous deeds which are in the utmost beauty. It has been narrated that each one of them rides whatever he desires, so some of them ride camels, some ride horses, and some ride ships that come sailing with them. And it has been reported in the sacrifices that "they are your mounts to Paradise." And in much of this there is a distance, but we mentioned it according to the gathering of the sayings. And "the driving" implies humiliation because they are urged from behind them. And "Al-Wird" means: thirst, as said by Ibn Abbas, Abu Hurairah, and Al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with them.

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

And they are the people who are eager from their thirst for a source of water, and it is possible that the source means: We bring them to a source, and thus it is made by one who sees in the Quran four sources, and that has been previously mentioned.

And the interpreters differed regarding the pronoun in His saying, the Most High: ﴿They do not possess﴾. A group said: It refers back to 'the criminals', meaning: they do not possess the ability to intercede for them, nor is there a way for them to it. According to this interpretation, they are specifically polytheists. His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Except for he who has taken with the Most Merciful a covenant﴾ is an exception that is disconnected, meaning: but whoever has taken a covenant will be interceded for. And 'the covenant' in this context is faith. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The covenant is that there is no deity except Allah. In the hadith: 'Allah, the Most High, will say on the Day of Resurrection: Whoever has a covenant with Me, let him stand up.' And in the hadith: 'Five prayers have been prescribed by Allah upon the servants. Whoever comes with them complete will have a covenant with Allah that he will enter Paradise.' And 'the covenant' is also faith, and with it His saying, blessed and exalted is He, is interpreted: ﴿My covenant does not include the wrongdoers﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 124].

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is possible that 'the criminals' includes both disbelievers and sinners. Then it was reported that they do not possess intercession except for the sinful believers, for they will be interceded for. Thus, the exception would be connected. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'I will continue to intercede until I say: O Lord, intercede for me regarding whoever said there is no deity except Allah.' Allah will say: 'O Muhammad, it is not for you, but it is for Me.'

Another group said: The pronoun in His saying, the Most High: ﴿They do not possess﴾ refers to the righteous. And His saying: ﴿Except for he who has taken with the Most Merciful a covenant﴾ means: except for whoever has a good deed that qualifies him to be among those who are interceded for. The hadiths have confirmed that the people of knowledge, virtue, and righteousness will be interceded for, and it has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: 'In my nation, there is a man through whose intercession Allah will admit more people to Paradise than the tribe of Tamim.' Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And we used to narrate that the martyr intercedes for seventy.

Some of this group said: The meaning of the words is: except for whoever has taken with the Most Merciful a covenant, meaning: the righteous do not possess intercession except for this category. Thus, 'whoever' comes in the interpretation for the intercessors, and in the second for those who are interceded for.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The verse may imply that 'whoever' refers to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and 'the intercession' is specific to him, and general for the people. The pronoun in 'they do not possess' would refer to all the people of the standing. Do you not see that the other prophets are competing for intercession until it comes to him, and he approaches it, blessings and peace be upon him? Thus, the covenant is, according to this, a text regarding the matter of intercession in His saying, the Most High: ﴿Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station﴾ [Al-Isra: 79].