His saying, exalted and majestic is He, "Did you not see the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord because Allah had given him kingship? When Abraham said, 'My Lord is He who gives life and causes death,' he said, 'I give life and cause death.' Abraham said, 'Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.' So the one who disbelieved was overwhelmed. And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.'

"Did you not see" is a reminder, and it is the vision of the heart. Ali ibn Abi Talib read: "Did you not see" with the jasm of the letter ر. The one who argued with Abraham is Nimrod ibn Canaan ibn Cush ibn Ham ibn Noah, the king of his time and the owner of the fire and the mosquito. This is the saying of Mujahid, Qatadah, Al-Rabi, Al-Suddi, Ibn Ishaq, Zayd ibn Aslam, and others. Ibn Jurayj said: He is the first king on earth, and this is rejected. Qatadah said: He is the first one who became tyrannical, and he is the owner of the palace in Babylon. It is said that he ruled the entire world and his clay spread in it. He is one of the disbelievers, the other being Bukht Nasr. It is said that the one who argued with Abraham is Nimrod ibn Falikh ibn Amir ibn Shalikh ibn Arfakhshad ibn Sam ibn Noah.

And in the stories of this argument, there are two narrations: One of them mentions that Zayd ibn Aslam said that this Nimrod sat commanding the people to give their food, and whenever a group came, he would ask, 'Who is your Lord and your God?' They would say, 'You are.' He would say, 'Feed them.' And when Abraham, peace be upon him, came to gather food, he asked him, 'Who is your Lord and your God?' Abraham said, 'My Lord is He who gives life and causes death.' When Nimrod heard this, he said, 'I give life and cause death.' Abraham opposed him with the matter of the sun, and the one who disbelieved was overwhelmed. He said, 'Do not feed him.' So Abraham returned to his family empty-handed. He passed by a dune of sand like flour and said, 'If I fill my container with this and when I enter, the boys will rejoice until I look at them.' He took that, and when he reached his home, the boys rejoiced and began to play on the two containers. He fell asleep from exhaustion. His wife said, 'If I prepare food for him, he will find it ready when he wakes up.' She opened one of the containers and found the best of what could be from the flour, so she baked it. When he got up, she placed it before him, and he said, 'Where is this from?' She said, 'From the flour that you brought.' So Abraham knew that Allah, the Exalted, had facilitated that for them.

Al-Rabi and others in these stories said that when Nimrod said, 'I give life and cause death,' he brought two men, killed one of them, and released the other, saying, 'I have given life to this one and killed that one.' When Abraham opposed him with the matter of the sun, he was overwhelmed.

The other narration mentions that Al-Suddi said that when Abraham came out of the fire, they brought him to the king, and he had not entered upon him before that. He spoke to him and said, 'Who is your Lord?' He said, 'My Lord is He who gives life and causes death.' Nimrod said, 'I give life and cause death.' I will take four people and put them in a house, and they will not be fed anything nor given drink until they become hungry. Then I will bring them out and feed two of them, and they will live, while I leave two of them, and they will die. Abraham opposed him with the sun, and he was overwhelmed.

The scholars of usul mentioned in this verse that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, described his Lord, glorified and exalted is He, with what is a characteristic of Him from giving life and causing death. However, it is a matter that has both a reality and a metaphor. Ibrahim, peace be upon him, intended the reality, while Nimrod resorted to the metaphor and deceived his people with it. Ibrahim responded to him with the response of debate and shifted with him from the example, bringing him a matter in which there is no metaphor. Thus, the one who disbelieved was dumbfounded and could not say: I am the one who brings it from the east, because those with teeth would deny him.

And his saying "hajjah" is from the pattern fa'ala, meaning he engaged in argument with him. The pronoun in "his Lord" may refer back to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, and it may refer back to the one who argued. And "that" is an object for that purpose. The pronoun in "He gave him" refers to Nimrod. This is the saying of the majority of the interpreters. Al-Mahdawi said: It is possible that the pronoun refers back to Ibrahim, "that He gave him" the kingdom of prophethood, and this is an overreach in interpretation.

The majority of the reciters read: "that I give life" by omitting the alif that follows the noon in "I" when they connect in all the Qur'an except for the case of Warsh, Ibn Abi Uways, and Qalun, who saw the affirmation of it in connection when it meets a hamzah in all the Qur'an, like: "I give life" and "I am your brother" except in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "I am only a warner" [Ash-Shu'ara: 115], for he omits it in this place like the rest of the reciters. He followed his companions in omitting it when there is no hamzah. Abu Ali said: The pronoun of the speaker is the name in which there is the hamzah and the noon. Then the alif is added in the pause as the haa is sometimes added in the pause. If the word that is in it connects with something, the haa is dropped. Similarly, the alif is like the alif of hayhala, and this is like the alif that is added in the rhymes. So contemplate. Abu Ali said: If the word connects with something, the alif is dropped because the thing that the word connects with takes the place of the alif. The alif has come affirmed in connection in poetry, from that is the saying of the poet:

I am the elder of the tribe, so recognize me ∗∗∗ praised, I have grown the hump.

And the majority read: "So the one who disbelieved was dumbfounded" with the ba' being pronounced with a dammah and the ha' with a kasrah. It is said: The man was dumbfounded if he was cut off and the proof was established against him. Ibn Sidah said: It is said in this meaning: bahita with a fatha on the ba' and a kasrah on the ha', and bahuta with a fatha on the ba' and a dammah on the ha'. Al-Tabari said: It has been reported from some of the Arabs in this meaning: bahata with a fatha on the ba' and the ha'.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Thus, the wording has been recorded in the copy of Ibn Malul without specifying the opening of the bā' and the hā'. Ibn Jinni said: Abu Haywah read: "Fabahuta" with the opening of the bā' and the dammah on the hā', and it is a dialect in "Buhita" with the kasrah on the hā'. He said: And Ibn Al-Samif' read: "Fabahata" with the opening of the bā' and the hā' meaning "Fabahata Ibrahim who disbelieved," so that which is in the position of the noun is in the accusative case. He said: And it may be permissible that "Bahata" with both opened is a dialect in "Buhita." He said: And Abu Al-Hasan Al-Akhfash narrated the reading of "Fabuhita" with the kasrah on the hā' like "Khuriqa" and "Duhisha." He said: And the majority is with the dammah on the hā'. Ibn Jinni said: He means that the dammah is for emphasis.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And some people have interpreted the reading of those who read "Fabahata" with both opened as meaning that he insulted and slandered, and that Nimrod is the one who insulted Ibrahim when he was helpless and had no means.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people﴾ is a statement to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and his nation.

And the meaning is that He does not guide them in their arguments against their wrongdoing, because there is no guidance in wrongdoing. So its apparent meaning is general, and its meaning is specific, as we have mentioned, because Allah may guide the wrongdoing through repentance and returning to faith, and it is possible that the specificity is for those who meet a wrongdoing.