'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And whoever among them says, 'Indeed, I am a god besides Him,' we will punish him with Hell. Thus do we punish the wrongdoers." "Have those who disbelieved not seen that the heavens and the earth were a closed-up mass, then We opened them out? And We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?" The meaning is: whoever among them says this, if he were to say it, and there is none among them who has said this. Some of the commentators said: what is meant by His saying: 'And whoever says...' is Iblis. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is weak; for it has never been reported that Iblis claimed divinity. The majority read: "we will punish him" with a فتح on the نون, and Abu Abdur-Rahman Abdullah ibn Yazid read: "we will punish him" with a ضم on the نون and the هاء. The meaning of this is: we make it sufficient for him, from your saying: 'the thing sufficed me,' then the همزة was softened to a ياء. His saying: "Thus" means: like our punishment of this speaker is our punishment of the wrongdoers. Then He stopped them at a sign indicating the oneness of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. And "the closed-up mass" means: that which is attached to one another, in which there is no crack or opening. From it: "a closed woman." The commentators differed in the meaning of His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "were a closed-up mass, then We opened them out." One group said: the heavens were attached to the earth, then Allah opened them with air. Another group said: the heavens were attached to one another, and the earth likewise, then Allah opened them seven by seven. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And according to these two sayings, the 'vision' is the vision of the heart. Another group said: the heavens before the rain were closed, and the earth before the vegetation was closed, then Allah opened them with rain and vegetation, as Allah, blessed and exalted is He, said: "By the heaven which returns" [At-Takwir: 15] "and the earth which cracks" [At-Takwir: 16]. This is a good saying that combines the lesson and the enumeration of the blessing and the proof with something tangible and clear, and it corresponds to His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We made from water every living thing," meaning: from the water that was created by the opening, so the meaning of the verse becomes clear and the consideration is directed. Another group said: the heavens and the earth were closed in darkness, then Allah opened them with light. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And the vision according to these two sayings is the vision of the eye, and the earth here is a name for the genus, so it is plural. The majority read: "a closed-up mass" with a سكون on the تاء, and "the closed-up mass" is a source described as such, like 'the visit' and 'the justice.' Al-Hasan, Ash-Sha'bi, and Abu Haywah read: "were a closed-up mass" with a فتح on the تاء, and it is the name of that which is closed, like 'the shaking' and 'the jostling.' He said: "were" in terms of both of them being two types, and similar to this is the saying of Amr ibn Shuyaym: 'Did it not sadden you that the ropes of Qays and Taghlib have become distinct by severance?' And His saying: "were" in both sayings is like your saying: "Zayd was alive," meaning: then he was not, and in the other two sayings it is like your saying: "Zayd was knowledgeable," meaning: and he is so. Ibn Kathir alone read: "Did they not see" by omitting the و.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And We made from water every living thing" is clear that it is not in its entirety. For indeed, the angels and the jinn have emerged from that. However, the point is that it should be understood in the broadest sense possible. Thus, all animals and plants - although life in them is metaphorical - are included in this. And a group said: what is meant by water is the sperm in all animals. Then He admonished them for abandoning faith, reproaching and scolding them.