His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And indeed, this is your community, one community, and I am your Lord, so fear Me﴾ ﴿So they cut off their affair among themselves into factions; every faction rejoices in what they have﴾ ﴿So leave them in their confusion for a time﴾ ﴿Do they think that what We extend to them of wealth and children﴾ ﴿We hasten for them in good things? Rather, they do not perceive﴾

'Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "And indeed, this is" with a kasrah on the alif and a shaddah on the noon. Ibn 'Amir read: "And that this is" with a fathah on the alif and a lightening of "an." Ibn Kathir, Nafi', and Abu 'Amr read: "And that this is" with a fathah on the alif and a shaddah on "an." The first reading is clear in its separation, while the opening of the alif and the shaddah on the noon is the view of Sibawayh that it is related finally to "so fear Me" on the estimation of: "because," meaning: so fear Me because your community is one community and that I am your Lord. This is similar to His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And that the mosques are for Allah, so do not invoke with Allah anyone﴾ [Al-Jinn: 18]. And "that" in his view is in a position of genitive, while it is in the view of Al-Khalil in a position of accusative when the genitive has been removed. This has been reversed by some people attributed to them, and Al-Farra' said: "that" is related to an implied action, the estimation of which is: know or preserve.

Al-Hasan and Ibn Abi Ishaq read: "one community" in the nominative as an apposition. Nafi', 'Asim, and Abu 'Amr read: "one community" in the accusative as a state, and it was said as an apposition to "this," and there is a consideration in this.

This verse strengthens that His saying, the Most High: ﴿O messengers﴾ [Al-Mu'minun: 51] is indeed an address to all of them, and that it is by confirming their presence. This verse comes after that with the estimation of: and We said to the people, and if it is estimated that ﴿O messengers﴾ [Al-Mu'minun: 51] is an address to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - the connection of this and the connection of His saying: ﴿So they cut off their affair﴾ is not disturbed. As for His saying: ﴿And I am your Lord, so fear Me﴾, even if it was said to the prophets, their nations are included in meaning, so the connection of "So they cut off" after that is good. The meaning of "community" here is the religion and the law, and the reference of "this" is to the easy Hanifiyyah, the religion of Ibrahim - peace be upon him - which is the religion of Islam. And His saying: "So they cut off" means the nations, meaning: they separated, and it is not an obedient action as you say: "the cloth was cut," but it is a transitive action meaning "they cut off," and like it: "the night terrifies me," and "the journey frightens me," and "the time informs me."

Nafi' read: "factions" with a dammah on the zay and the ba, the plural of zabur. Al-Amash and Abu 'Amr read differently: "factions" with a dammah on the zay and a fathah on the ba. As for the first, it can have two meanings: one of them is that the nations disputed their affair with revealed books, so one group followed the scriptures, another group followed the Torah, and another group followed the Gospel, then all distorted and changed, and this is the saying of Qatadah. The second is that they disputed their affair with books they composed and falsehoods they authored, and this is the saying of Ibn Zayd. As for the second reading, its meaning is: factions like iron plates.

Then He, the Exalted, mentioned that every group among them is impressed by their opinion and their misguidance. This is the ultimate misguidance; for the one who is in doubt about what he has looks for the truth. Since the mention of the nations in this verse is an example for Quraysh, it addresses Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - regarding them, connected to His saying: "So leave them," meaning: leave those who are like those who preceded them. And "the overwhelming" refers to what has engulfed them from their misguidance, and it acts upon them like the action of overwhelming water due to what has occurred in it. Abu Abdur-Rahman read: "So leave them in their overwhelming." And "until a time" means: until a time of victory over them that is not limited. In this verse, there is a temporary truce that is abrogated by the verse of the sword.

Then He pointed out their error in their opinion that the blessing of Allah upon them in wealth and the like is only for His pleasure with their condition. He clarified - the Exalted - that this is merely a delay and a gradual leading astray, and the news of "that" in His saying: "We hasten."

The majority of the people read: "We hasten" with the pronoun of greatness. In the speech - regarding this reading - there is an implied pronoun whose estimation is: "for them with it." Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah read: "He hastens" with the 'ya' and a broken 'ra' meaning that our support hastens, and there is no pronoun with this reading except what the action implies. It has been narrated from Abu Bakrah mentioned that he read: "He is hastened" with a fat 'ra'. Al-Hurr al-Nahwi read: "We hasten" with the 'nun' and the dropping of the 'alif', and "the good things" here encompass this world.

And His saying - the Exalted: ﴿But they do not perceive﴾ is a warning and a threat. And "perception" is derived from "shiar," which is what a person has worn out from his clothes.