His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"Those who break the covenant of Allah after its confirmation and cut what Allah has commanded to be joined and cause corruption in the land, they are the losers." "How can you disbelieve in Allah while you were dead and He brought you to life? Then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you to life, then to Him you will return." "He is the One who created for you all that is in the earth, then He turned to the heaven and made them seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things."

Breaking is the rejection of what was established, as it is not firmly established. The covenant in this verse refers to the prior commitment in a matter and the recommendation regarding it.

There is a difference of opinion regarding the interpretation of this covenant. Some of the interpreters said: It is what Allah took from the children of Adam when He extracted them from the back of their father Adam like dust. Others said: Rather, He established the proofs of the oneness of Allah in the heavens and the earth and all of creation, which is like a covenant. Others said: Rather, this covenant is what Allah took from His servants through His messengers: to single Him out for worship and not to worship others. Others said: Rather, this covenant is what Allah took regarding following the messengers and the revealed books: that they should believe in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and not conceal his matter.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The verse is thus concerning the people of the Book, and the apparent meaning of what is before and after it is that it applies to all disbelievers. And Qatadah said: This verse is about one who believed in the Prophet, peace be upon him, then disbelieved in him and broke the covenant.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Al-Tabari did not attribute any of these sayings.

And every covenant that is permissible among Muslims, breaking it is not prohibited by this verse. The pronoun in "His covenant" may refer back to "the covenant" or to "the name of Allah, the Exalted," and "covenant" is a noun derived from the root of binding, which is the tying in a contract and similar. In this verse, it is a name in the place of the source, as Amr ibn Shabim said:

"Is it disbelief after the return of death from me and after Your giving the hundred?"

He meant after Your giving.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "What Allah has commanded to be joined." The "what" is in the position of accusative governed by "they cut." There is a difference regarding what is the thing that He commanded to be joined. Qatadah said: The ties of kinship in general among people, while others said: Specifically regarding those who believed in Muhammad, as if the disbelievers are cutting their ties of kinship. The majority of the scholars said: The reference in this verse is to the religion of Allah and His worship in the land, establishing His laws, and preserving His limits. And this is the truth, and the womb is a part of this. And "to" is in the position of accusative as a substitute for "what," or an object for the sake of it. It is said: "to" is in the position of genitive as a substitute for the pronoun in "by it," and this is a valid direction.

"And they cause corruption in the land" means they worship others besides Allah and act unjustly according to their desires. And "the loser" is one who diminishes his own share of success and victory. And loss is the deficiency, whether in a scale or otherwise.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿How can you disbelieve﴾, its wording is a question, but it is not so. Rather, it is an affirmation and a reproach. That is: How can you disbelieve in Allah and His blessings upon you and His power over this? And "How" is in the accusative case as an adverb, and the doer of it is "you disbelieve", and its estimation is: Are you denying when you disbelieve? Are you rejecting when you disbelieve? And "How" is constructed, and it is specified with a fatha due to its lightness. And whoever said that "How" is an affirmation and astonishment, its meaning is: If this matter were to occur, then its truth is that it should be wondered at due to its strangeness and its distance from what is customary of gratitude to the Benefactor. And the "and" in His saying: "And you were" is the conjunction of the adverbial clause.

And there was a disagreement regarding the order of these two deaths and two lives. Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, and Mujahid said: The meaning is that you were dead, non-existent before you were created, as it is said of a thing that is non-existent: it is dead. Then you were created and brought forth into the world, so He gave you life. Then death, which is known, caused you to die. Then He will give you life for the resurrection on the Day of Judgment.

Others said: "You were dead" in the sense that Adam was made from dead clay before he came to life. Then He blew into him the spirit, so He gave you life by the life of Adam. Then He will cause you to die, then He will give you life as previously mentioned. And Qatadah said: "You were dead" in the loins of your fathers, then you were brought forth into the world, so He gave you life, then as previously mentioned. And others said: "You were dead" in the wombs before the spirit was blown into you, then He gave you life by your coming forth into the world, then as previously mentioned.

Ibn Zayd said: Indeed, Allah, exalted is He, brought forth the souls of the children of Adam like the size of an ant, then He caused them to die after that. This is His saying: ﴿And you were dead﴾. Then He gave them life by bringing them into the world, then as previously mentioned. And Ibn Abbas and Abu Salih said: "You were dead" by the known death, then He gave you life for questioning in the graves, then He caused you to die in them, then He gave you life for the resurrection. And it has also been narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: And you were dead by being obscure, then He gave you life by being mentioned and honored with this religion and the Prophet who came to you.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The first saying is the most preferable of these sayings, because it is that which the disbelievers cannot avoid acknowledging in its initial order. Then, indeed, His saying first: (You were dead) and attributing the death finally to Him, blessed and exalted is He, strengthens that saying. And when the souls of the disbelievers acknowledge that they were dead, non-existent, then to being given life in the world, then to death in it, the obligation of the other life becomes strong upon them, and their denial of it is a claim that has no proof.

And the pronoun in "to Him" refers back to Allah, exalted is He, that is, to His reward or punishment. It is said that it refers back to the living, but the first is clearer.

And the majority of the people read: "You will return" with the ta in the nominative and the jim in the accusative. And Ibn Abu Ishaq, Ibn Muhaisin, Ibn Yamur, Salam, Al-Fayyad ibn Ghazwan, and Ya'qub Al-Hadrami read: "They will return, and you will return" with the ya and the ta in the accusative where it occurs.

'And "He created" means: He invented and brought into existence after non-existence. It may be said regarding a human that he creates something after his making it. This is similar to the poet's saying:

And indeed you carve what you have created, and after the people are created, then they do not carve.

And from this is the saying of another:

Whoever creates what I am capable of, my ability in it is little.

And "for you" means: for consideration, and what precedes it and what follows it from the text indicates this. The lessons are: bringing to life, causing death, and creation, and the rising to the heaven, and its equalization. And some people said: Rather, the meaning of "for you" is the permissibility of things and their ownership. This is the saying of those who say: Indeed, things before the arrival of the hearing are permissible, and this verse clarifies it. Those who hold the view of prohibition and those who hold the view of suspension oppose them in this interpretation. Most of those who hold the view of prohibition excluded things that necessitate permissibility with the existence of humans, such as breathing and movement. And it is responded to those who hold the view of prohibition: Every prohibition in the Qur'an, and to those who hold the view of permissibility: Every declaration of permissibility in the Qur'an. The suspension is preferred if we consider a situation where there is no hearing and it does not relate to it. The meaning of suspension is: it is the utilization of the effort of the observer in what concerns the incidents. Ibn Fawrk narrated from Ibn al-Saigh that he said: The intellect has never been free from hearing, nor is there an incident except that it has hearing, either its beginning is related to it, or its beginning is a situation that is accompanied. He said: Therefore, it is appropriate to rely on this, and it suffices from looking into prohibition, permissibility, and suspension. And "all together" is in the accusative case as an adverb.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿Then He rose﴾, the "then" here is for the arrangement of the news, not for the arrangement of the matter in itself. (p-163) And "rose": Some said its meaning is: He elevated without any specification or limitation. This is the choice of al-Tabari, and the interpretation is: His command, His power, and His authority elevated. Ibn Kaysan said: Its meaning is: He aimed at the heaven, that is, by His creation and invention. And it was said: Its meaning is: His creation in it was completed, as you say: The matter has risen.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is confusion.

And al-Tabari narrated from some that the meaning is more acceptable, and he weakened it.

And it was narrated from some that the one who is elevated is the smoke, and this also is rejected by the arrangement of the words. And it was said the meaning is: He dominated, as the poet said:

Indeed, Bishr has risen over Iraq, without sword and spilled blood.

And this only comes in His saying, the Exalted: ﴿He rose over the Throne﴾ [Ta-Ha: 5]. The principle in this verse and similar ones is the prevention of transitions and the occurrence of events, and the elevation of power and authority remains.

And "He made them equal", it was said: The meaning is: He made them equal, and it was said: He equalized their surfaces by smoothing. And "seven" is in the accusative case as a substitute for the pronoun, or as the object of "made equal", with the estimation of omitting the preposition from the pronoun, as if he said: So He made from them seven. And it was said: It is in the accusative case as an adverb, and it was said: "He made them equal" either on the basis that the heavens are plural, or on the basis that it is a singular noun of a genus, thus indicating the plural.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And He is Knowing of all things﴾ means: of the existents, and His knowledge is confirmed regarding the non-existent from other verses.

And this verse necessitates that the earth and what is in it was created before the heaven, and that is correct. Then the earth was spread out after the creation of the heaven. With this, the meanings of these verses agree with those in Surah (Al-Mu'min) and in (An-Nazi'at).