His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And among the people are those who worship Allah on the edge. If good befalls him, he is reassured by it, but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face; he has lost this world and the Hereafter. That is the clear loss." "He calls upon besides Allah that which does not harm him and that which does not benefit him. That is the far astray." "He calls upon one whose harm is closer than his benefit. Wretched is the protector and wretched is the companion." These verses were revealed about some Bedouins and a people who had no certainty. One of them, when he embraced Islam and good things happened to him, such as an increase in wealth or a male child being provided for him, would say: 'This is a good religion,' and he would hold fast to it for these reasons. But if the matter were contrary, he would become pessimistic and turn back, as the 'Uraniyyun and others did. This meaning was stated by Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, and others. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "on the edge" means: on a deviation from the clear belief, or on the brink of it, ready for destruction. And "the trial" refers to the test. And His saying: "he turns back on his face" is an expression for one who turns away from matters. And "his loss of this world and the Hereafter"—as for this world, it is by the decrees that have befallen him, and as for the Hereafter, it is due to his turning back and the corruption of his belief. Mujahid, Hamzah, and Al-A'raj read: "losing this world and the Hereafter" in the accusative case as a state. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "that which does not harm him and that which does not benefit him" refers to idols. And the meaning of "he calls upon" is to worship, and he also calls upon them in his calamities. The people differed regarding His saying, blessed and exalted is He: "He calls upon one whose harm is closer than his benefit." A group from the Kufans said: The 'lam' is placed before its position, and the intended meaning is: he calls upon one who harms him. This interpretation is supported by the fact that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud read: "He calls upon one whose harm is upon him." And Al-Akhfash said: "He calls upon" means he says, and "from" is a subject, and "his harm" is a subject, and "closer" is its predicate, and the sentence is a relative clause, and the predicate of "from" is omitted. The intended meaning is: he says to one whose harm is closer to him than his benefit: 'O God,' and something similar to this is said by Antarah: They call upon Antarah and the spears as if they... The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This statement has an issue; reflect on how it corrupts the meaning, as the disbeliever never believed that the harm of idols is closer than their benefit. And the excuse of Abu Ali here is misleading, and he also does not compare it to the house he cited. And it was said: The meaning in "he calls upon" is to name, and this is like the previous statement except that the omitted part at the end is a direct object, the intended meaning of which is: 'a god.' And Zajjaj said: It is permissible that "he calls upon" is in the position of a state and has a missing 'ha,' and the intended meaning is: that is the far astray, meaning: he calls upon it, so he stops at this. Abu Ali said: It is good that "that" means: the one who is the far astray calls upon, so his saying: "that" is connected to his saying: "that is the far astray," and "he calls upon" is acting upon his saying: "that." The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The meaning of "that" as "the one" is not easy. Al-Mahdawi likened it to His saying, "And what is that in your right hand?" [Ta-Ha: 17]. It may appear in the verse that His saying, "calls," is connected to what came before it, and it contains the meaning of reproach, as if He said: He calls upon one who neither harms nor benefits. Then He repeated "calls" - in the context of reproach - without an object; since the first part of the speech was already completed, He then began the statement with His saying: "to whom his harm." The "to" indicates the coming of the division, and the second "to" in "how evil" is the "to" of swearing, although Abu Ali inclined to the view that it is the "to" of beginning and the second is the "to" of swearing. It also appears in the verse that the intended meaning is: He calls upon whom his harm is. Then He suspended the action with the "to," and it is valid to estimate this action from the actions that are suspended, which are the actions of the self, like "you thought" and "she assumed." Abu Ali pointed to this and responded to it.

And "the companion" is the close one who is associated in matters. Al-Tabari went to the view that the intended meaning of "the patron" and "the companion" is the idol whose harm is closer than its benefit. This is the saying of Mujahid, and Allah knows best.