His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Then let them complete their rites and fulfill their vows and let them circumambulate the Ancient House." That is, and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allah, it is better for him with his Lord. And the animals have been made lawful for you except what is recited to you, so avoid the abomination of idols and avoid false speech. "Be sincere to Allah, not associating anything with Him. And whoever associates with Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, and the birds snatch him or the wind carries him to a far place."

The reading has differed regarding the stillness of the lam in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Then let them complete their rites and fulfill their vows and let them circumambulate." And in moving all of that with a kasra, and in moving "let them complete" and stilling the two. And it has been previously mentioned in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Let him extend a means to the sky." [Al-Hajj: 15] The explanation of all of that.

And "the rites" is what the pilgrim does upon his release from ihram, such as shortening hair, shaving, and removing dishevelment, and the like from the establishment of the five acts of fitrah according to the hadith. And within that is the completion of all of his rites, as the rites cannot be completed except after that. And 'Asim alone - in the narration of Abu Bakr - read: "And let them fulfill" with a fatha on the waw and a shaddah on the fa. And "wa fa" and "awfa" are two languages used in the Book of Allah, exalted and majestic is He, and "awfa" is more common. And "the vows" are what they have of sacrificial animals and others, and "the circumambulation" mentioned in this verse is the circumambulation of ifadah, which is one of the obligations of Hajj. Al-Tabari said: There is no disagreement among the interpreters in that. Malik said: It is obligatory, and the one who leaves it returns from his homeland unless he performs the farewell circumambulation, for it suffices him from it.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is possible according to the arrangement that the reference is to the farewell circumambulation, as it is preferable that it be and there is no alternative. Al-Tabari narrated from Amr ibn Abi Salamah who said: I asked Zuhair about His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And let them circumambulate the Ancient House." He said: It is the farewell circumambulation. And Malik said in the Muwatta: The interpreters have differed regarding the description of the Ancient House. Mujahid and Al-Hasan said: The Ancient means the old; it is said: an ancient sword, and something has become ancient.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This saying is supported by reflection; for it is the first house established for mankind. However, Ibn al-Zubayr said: It was named Ancient because Allah, exalted and majestic is He, freed it from the tyrants by preventing them from it, and he narrated in this a hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and there is no reflection with the hadith. And a group said: It was named Ancient because it has never been owned in its place. And a group said: It was named Ancient because Allah, exalted and majestic is He, frees therein the necks of the sinners from punishment.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is refuted by the manipulation of the word. And it was said: It was named Ancient because it freed those who drowned in the flood, as said by Ibn Jubair. And it is possible that "the Ancient" is a descriptive term indicating the quality of the thing, as Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "I rode a horse that was ancient," the hadith, and similarly their saying: "Free speech."

And His saying, exalted is He: "That" can be understood as being in the position of رفع (nominative) with the meaning of: Your obligation is that, or the duty is that. It can also be understood as being in the position of نصب (accusative) with the meaning of: Obey that, and similar to this implicitness. The best of things that are implicit is the best of them that is manifest. And similar to this eloquent indication is the saying of Zuhayr:

This is not like one who is confused by his plan in the midst of the greenery when a speaker speaks.

And the "prohibitions" intended here are the acts of Hajj referred to in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Then let them complete their rites and fulfill their vows﴾. Included in this is the honoring of the sacred places, as stated by Ibn Zayd and others. And He promised regarding the honoring of them thereafter, urging and emphasizing. Then the wording of the verse - after that - encompasses every sanctity of Allah, exalted is He, in all of the Shari'ah. And His saying, exalted is He: "So it is better" appears to not be for preference, but rather it is a promise of goodness. It is possible that "better" is for preference by a concession in this context.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And the animals have been made lawful for you﴾ is an indication of what the Arabs used to do in prohibiting things by their opinion, such as the البحيرة (al-Buhayrah) and the سائبة (al-Sa'ibah). So Allah, exalted is He, abolished all of that and made all animals lawful for them except what is recited to them in the Book of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in other places. Then He commanded them to avoid the abomination of idols. The statement can have two meanings: One of them is that "whoever" is for specifying the type, so His prohibition of the abomination of idols is only, and the other abominations remain prohibited in other contexts. The second meaning is that "whoever" is for beginning the goal, as if He prohibited them from the abomination in general, then specified for them its origin from which it follows them; for the worship of idols encompasses all corruption and abomination. It indicates that the reference is to the sacrifices that were for the idols, so this is what is recited to them. And whoever says that "whoever" is for partitive has altered the meaning of the verse and corrupted it. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas and Ibn Jurayj that the verse is a prohibition against the worship of idols.

And "falsehood" is general in lying and disbelief, and that is because everything other than the truth is a lie, falsehood, and falsehood. Ibn Mas'ud and Ayman ibn Khuraym said: "Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: The testimony of falsehood is equivalent to shirk (associating partners with Allah)." And he recited this verse. And "falsehood" is derived from الزور (al-Zawr), which means deviation, and from it is on the side of so-and-so a deviation. It shows that the reference is to their false statements in prohibiting and permitting what they had legislated regarding the animals.

And "Hanif" means: upright or inclined towards the truth, as the term "حنف" (Hanif) is from opposites, it can refer to uprightness and it can refer to inclination. And "Hanif" is in the accusative as a حال (state). And some said: "Hanif" means: pilgrims.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is a specification that has no argument with it.

And "not associating partners" can be another حال (state), and it can also be a description of His saying: "Hanif."

Then Allah, the Most High, struck a parable for the polytheist, glorified and exalted is He, which is evident in the utmost degradation. The horror and the severance from salvation are to be expected. This is unlike what He struck for the believer in His saying, "So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah" [Al-Baqarah: 256]. Similarly, Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "If I were to tell you about the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, it would be easier for me to fall from the sky to the earth than to lie about him, the hadith."

Nafi' alone read: "And the bird snatches it" with a فتح (fath) on the خاء (khaa) and a شَدّ (shadd) on the طاء (taa) by omitting the تاء (taa) of تفعّل (tafa'ul). The others read: "And the bird snatches it" with a سُكُون (sukoon) on the خاء (khaa) and a تَخْفِيف (takhfif) of the طاء (taa). Al-Hasan read - as it was narrated from him -: "And it snatches it" with a كَسْر (kasr) on the تاء (taa) and خاء (khaa) and a فتح (fath) on the طاء (taa) with shadd. Al-Hasan also and Abu Rujai read with a فتح (fath) on the تاء (taa) and a كَسْر (kasr) on the خاء (khaa), and the طاء (taa) with shadd. Al-Amash read: "From the sky it snatches it" without a فاء (faa) and in accordance with the reading of the group. The future tense is connected to the past tense because it is understood as: "So it snatches it, the bird." Abu Ja'far read: "The winds."

And "السَحِيقُ" (sahiq) means the distant one, and from it is their saying: "Allah has made him distant," and from it is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "So I will say, 'Be distant, be distant.'" And from it is "a distant palm tree" in the sky.