His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And they do not teach anyone until they say, 'Indeed, we are a trial, so do not disbelieve.' And they learn from both of them what they use to cause division between a man and his wife. And they do not harm anyone thereby except by the permission of Allah. And they learn what harms them and does not benefit them. And they certainly knew that for whoever purchased it, there is no share for him in the Hereafter. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves if they only knew." [Al-Baqarah: 102] "And if only they had believed and feared Allah, then a reward from Allah would have been better if they only knew." [Al-Baqarah: 102] "O you who have believed, do not say 'Ra'ina' but say 'Unzurna' and listen. And for the disbelievers is a painful punishment." Ibn al-A'rabi mentioned in the Yaqutah that "they do not teach" means "they know" and "they feel," as Ka'b ibn Zuhayr said: 'Learn, O Messenger of Allah, that you are my grasping, and that a threat from you is like taking by the hand.' And this verse indicates that the two angels only descended to teach the people about magic and to prohibit it. The majority said: Rather, the teaching is in its known sense. And "do not disbelieve": one group said it refers to learning magic, and another group said it refers to practicing it. Al-Mahdawi reported that their saying, "Indeed, we are a trial, so do not disbelieve" is in jest, because they only say it to one who has confirmed his misguidance. And the "from" in His saying, "from anyone" is extra after the negation. And His saying, "And they learn," Sibawayh said: the meaning is they understand they learn. It is said that it is connected to His saying, "they teach the people," and Al-Zajjaj prohibited it. It is said that it is connected to the position of "what they teach" because His saying, "And they do not teach" even if the negation has entered upon it, implies affirmation in teaching. It is said that the meaning is they come and they learn, and this was chosen by Al-Zajjaj. The pronoun in "they do not teach" refers to Harut and Marut, the two angels, or the two foreign angels as previously mentioned. The pronoun in "from both of them" is said to refer back to them, and it is said to refer to magic, and to that which was revealed to the two angels. And "they cause division" means the division of the bond of marriage, and it is said to mean they separate the man from the woman until he cannot have relations with her, so it is also a division. Al-Hasan, Al-Zuhri, and Qatadah read "the man" with a broken letter, lightly. It was narrated from Al-Zuhri with emphasis on the letter. Ibn Abu Ishaq read "the man" with a dammah on the meme and a hamzah, and this is the language of Hudhayl. Al-Ashhab Al-Aqili read "the man" with a kasrah on the meme and a hamzah, and this was narrated from Al-Hasan. The majority of the people read "the man" with a fatha on the meme and a hamzah. And the wife here is the woman of the man, and each one of them is the spouse of the other, and it is said for the woman: 'wife.' Al-Farazdaq said: 'And indeed, the one who strives to corrupt my wife is like one striving towards a lion of the market, seeking to take her.' And the majority read "do not harm." Al-Amash read "do not harm him from anyone," and it was said that the noon was omitted for ease, and it was said that it was omitted for the addition to anyone, and a barrier was placed between the added and the added to by the genitive.

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' And 'by the permission of Allah' means: by His knowledge and enabling. And 'it harms them' means: in the Hereafter, 'and it does not benefit them' in it as well, even if it benefits in this world through gains. What is taken into account is indeed the matter of the Hereafter. The pronoun in 'they knew' refers back to the Children of Israel according to the preceding pronouns. It is said: it refers to 'the devils' and it is said: it refers to 'the two angels,' and they are plural. And he said: 'he bought it' because they used to give a wage to learn. And 'the share' means: the portion and lot, and here it means honor and status. The 'lam' in his saying 'for whom' is for the oath, indicating that the speech is an oath, not a condition. And the saying 'evil is what they purchased' has been previously mentioned, and 'they sold' means: they sold, and a similar has been mentioned before. The pronoun in 'they teach' refers back to the Children of Israel by agreement. And whoever said that the pronoun in 'they knew' refers back to them has taken this second view as a metaphor, meaning when they acted like one who does not know, they were as if they did not know. And whoever said that the pronoun in 'they knew' refers to 'the devils' or to 'the two angels' said: those knew that there is no share for whoever purchased it, while these did not know, so it is in reality. And Makki said: the pronoun in 'they knew' refers to the scholars of the People of the Book, and in his saying: 'if they had known' [Al-Baqarah: 102] it refers to the learners among them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And if only they had believed" is a place of raising, the meaning is: if their belief had occurred. And it means those who bought magic. And "if only" necessitates a response. A group said: its response is "they would have been rewarded" because it is a source that applies to the past and the future. And the response of "if only" can only be in the past or in its meaning. Al-Akhfash said: there is no apparent response to "if only" in this verse, but it is implied, meaning: if they had believed, they would have been rewarded. And Qatadah, Abu al-Simmal, and Ibn Buraidah read "they would have been rewarded" with the thaa' being silent and the waw being opened, which is also a source like mashurah and mashwarah. And "rewarded" is raised by the beginning and "good" is its news, and the sentence is the news of "that." The reward, according to the majority of people, means reward and recompense, and this is the correct view. Some said: its meaning is the return to Allah, from thaba ya thubu if he returns. And the lam in it is the lam of oath, because the lam of beginning is unnecessary, but this one is necessary. And His saying: "If they had known" [Al-Baqarah: 102] allows for the negation of knowledge from them, and it may be intended that if they had known a knowledge that benefits. And the majority of people read "Ra'ina" from the meaning of consideration, meaning: consider us, we will consider you. And in this is rudeness to address one’s prophet with it. And Allah, exalted is He, has urged lowering the voice before him, and honoring him, and respecting him. So those who went to this meaning said: indeed Allah, exalted is He, prohibited the believers from it for this reason, and there is no entrance for the Jews in this verse according to this interpretation. Rather, it is a prohibition of all addressing in which there is equality with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And a group said: it is a language that the Ansar used to say, and Rifa'ah ibn Zayd ibn al-Tabut said it to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, twisting his tongue and stabbing, as it was said: listen without hearing. So Allah prohibited the believers from saying this word.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And attributing this language to the Ansar is a shortcoming, rather it is the language of all Arabs, a doer from the meaning of consideration. And the Jews used to twist it to mean foolishness, showing that they wanted consideration, while concealing that they wanted foolishness, which is ignorance.

And Al-Mahdawi reported from a group that this verse, according to this interpretation, abrogates an action that was previously permissible, and there are no conditions for abrogation in this verse, because the first was not an established law.

Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, Ibn Abi Layla, Ibn Muhaisin, and Abu Haywa read "Ra'ina" with tanween, and this is from the meaning of ignorance. This is based on the fact that the Jews used to say it, so Allah, glorified and exalted is He, prohibited the believers from saying the permissible word to prevent the Jews from slipping into the forbidden. The believers used to say "Ra'ina" without tanween. In the mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, it is written "Ra'awna," which is an odd reading. Its reasoning is that they were addressing the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, as one addresses a group, showing their respect for him. However, inwardly, they intended a meaning related to foolishness. "Unzurna" with the alif and dhad means: wait for us and give us time. It is possible that the meaning is: let us see, from the perspective of looking. This expression is sincere in honoring the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in both meanings.

The apparent meaning to me is the calling for the gaze of the eye accompanied by contemplation of the situation. This is the meaning of "Ra'ina," so the word was changed for the believers to eliminate the association with the Jews. Al-Amash and others read "Unzurna" by cutting the alif and breaking the dhad, meaning: delay us and give us time until we understand from you and receive from you.

When Allah, glorified and exalted is He, prohibited in this verse and commanded, He then urged listening, which inherently includes obedience. And know that for whoever opposes His command and disbelieves, there is a painful punishment, which is the one that hurts. "Listen" is connected to "Say" and not to its governing word.