His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Those to whom We have given the Book know it as they know their sons. And indeed, a party of them surely conceal the truth while they know it." "The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters." "And for every direction, there is a goal to which it turns. So race towards good deeds. Wherever you may be, Allah will bring you all together. Indeed, Allah is capable of all things." "And from wherever you come out, turn your face towards the Sacred Mosque. And indeed, it is the truth from your Lord. And Allah is not unaware of what you do." (p-378) "Those" is in the nominative position as a subject, and the predicate is "they know it." It is also correct for it to be in the genitive position as an adjective for the wrongdoers, and "they know it" is in the position of an adverbial clause. The sons are specified over the selves because a person may pass a time in his life where he does not recognize himself, but there is no time that passes where he does not recognize his son. The intended meaning here is the recognition of the face and distinguishing it, not the true recognition of lineage. Abdullah ibn Salam, may Allah be pleased with him, has an objection regarding this matter, which will be mentioned in its place, if Allah wills. The pronoun in "they know it" refers to the truth regarding the qiblah and the turning, by the command of Allah, towards the Kaaba. This was said by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Ibn Jurayj, and Al-Rabi'. Qatadah also said, along with Mujahid and others, that it refers to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, meaning they know his truthfulness and prophethood. (p-379) And the party refers to the group, and it is specified because among them are those who have embraced Islam and did not conceal. The reference to the truth indicates what has preceded regarding the ambiguity in the pronoun "they know it," thus the truth is generalized in a manner that emphasizes their blame. "And they know" is evident in the correctness of disbelief out of stubbornness. And His saying, exalted is He: "The truth is from your Lord," the truth is raised upon an implied beginning, and the estimation is the truth. It is also correct for it to be a beginning and the predicate to be estimated after it. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, read "the truth" in the accusative case, meaning it works with "they know." Its accusative case is also correct based on the estimation: adhere to the truth. "So do not be among the doubters," the address is to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the intended meaning is his nation. To doubt in something means to have uncertainty about it, and from it is the term mirā' because this means to doubt in the statement of this. Al-Tabari quoted a witness that the doubters are the ones who are uncertain: the saying of Al-A'sha: "It rolls upon the markets of the doubters, racing when the mirage is more apparent." And he was mistaken in that because Abu Ubaidah and others said that the doubters in the house are those who pass the horses with their feet, urging them to run, as if they are milking the running from it. Thus, there is no meaning of doubt in the house as Al-Tabari said.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And for every [religion] is a direction [toward which] it faces," the direction is an action from facing, like the qiblah. And His saying: "He is" refers back to the singular word in "every [religion]," and what is meant by it are the groups. The meaning is: for every follower of a religion, there is a direction to which he turns himself. This was said by Al-Rabi', 'Ata', and Ibn Abbas. Ibn Abbas and Ibn Amer read alone from the seven: "He is its guardian." A group said: the pronoun in "He is" refers back to Allah, exalted is He, and the meaning is: Allah is their guardian. Another group said: the meaning in the verse is that for everyone there is a religion and a law, which is the religion of Allah and the millah of Muhammad, and He is their guardian. Whoever follows it has followed it, and whoever abandons it has abandoned it. Qatadah said: the meaning of the verse is that the prayer was toward the Levant, then the prayer was toward the Ka'bah; for each of them there is a direction, and Allah is their guardian.

And Al-Tabari narrated that a group read: "And for every [religion] is a direction" by adding "every" to "direction," and Al-Tabari refuted it, saying it is directed, meaning: so compete in good deeds for every direction and do not oppose in what He has commanded you from this and that, meaning that your duty is to obey in all. He prefaced his saying: "every [religion] is a direction" over the command in His saying: "So compete" for the importance of the direction as the object is given precedence. Abu Amr Al-Dani mentioned this reading from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him.

And the waw in "direction" remains and does not change like a measure and weight, because "direction" is an adverb, and those are its sources, so it remains for the difference. Also, let it complete the structure like sitting. Abu Ali said: a group went to say that it is a source that deviated from the norm, so it remains, and a group said that it is a name that is not a source. Others said: if you want the source, you say: direction, and it may be said the direction in the adverb.

And Al-Tabari narrated from Mansur that he said: we read it: "And for every [religion] We made a qiblah they are pleased with." Then Allah, exalted is He, commanded His servants to compete in good deeds and to hasten to the path of salvation. Then He admonished them by mentioning the gathering as an admonition that includes a warning and a caution.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Allah will bring you all together," means the resurrection from the graves. Then Allah, exalted is He, described Himself with the ability over everything that He is capable of to correspond with the attribute with what has been mentioned of bringing them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And from wherever you go out," means: wherever you are and wherever you turn from the east and the west of the earth. Then this verse was repeated as an affirmation from Allah, exalted is He, because the location of the change was very difficult in their souls, so He affirmed the matter so that people would see the concern for it, and it would lighten upon them and their souls would find peace toward it.