His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised and His name is mentioned therein. They glorify Him therein in the mornings and the evenings﴾ ﴿Men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and the establishment of prayer and the giving of zakah. They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will tremble﴾

The letter 'b' in "houses" is pronounced with a dammah and is broken. There is a difference of opinion regarding the 'f' in His saying: "In". It has been said that it is related to "lamp", Abu Hatim said: It has been said that it is related to "they glorify" which comes later. According to this interpretation, it is connected to "knowledgeable". Al-Rummani said: It is related to "it is lit".

People have differed regarding the houses that He meant by His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised﴾. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Al-Hassan, and Mujahid said: They are the mosques specifically designated for Allah, exalted is He, which are usually illuminated with that type of lamps. Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan said: He meant the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and he called it houses because it has areas that are separate from one another. It is reported that the custom of the Children of Israel regarding the lighting of Al-Aqsa Mosque was to take great care of it, and the oil was selected and sealed on its containers, having been crafted and sanctified so that the lighting would not be sufficient with anything else. Thus, it was the brightest of the houses on earth. Ikrimah said: He meant the houses of faith in general, mosques and residences, which are the places where one prays at night and reads knowledge. Mujahid said: He meant the houses of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.

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

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿They glorify Him therein in the mornings and the evenings﴾ strengthens that they are the mosques.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "He has permitted" means He has commanded and decreed. The reality of permission is knowledge and enabling without prohibition. If it is accompanied by a command and execution, it is stronger. And "to be raised" has been said to mean to be built and elevated, as Mujahid and others said. This is similar to His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿And when Ibrahim raised the foundations of the House, and Ismail﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 127]. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever builds a mosque from his wealth, Allah will build for him a house in Paradise." In this meaning, there are hadiths. Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan said: It means to be honored and to have its status elevated. And "the mention of His name, exalted and glorified is He" is through prayer and worship, in words and actions.

Ibn Kathir and Asim read: "They glorify" with an open 'b' in the doubled letter, while the others and Hafs from Asim read: "They glorify" with a broken 'b' in the doubled letter. In the first reading, "Men" is elevated by an implied action indicated by "they glorify", its estimation is: "They glorify Him, men". This is similar to the poet's saying:

Here I am, Yazid, a supplicant for a dispute...

Meaning: he weeps for a supplicant. And in the second reading, "Men" is elevated by the apparent "they glorify". It has been narrated from Yahya ibn Wathab that he read: "They glorify" with a 't' from above. And "the mornings and the evenings". Al-Dahhak said: He meant the morning and the noon. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: He meant the two rak'ahs of Duha and the 'Asr, and indeed the two rak'ahs of Duha are in the Book of Allah, exalted is He, and none but a diver can delve into them.

Abu Mijlaz read: "and the connection." Then Allah, glorified and exalted is He, described the glorifiers as those who, due to their observance of Allah's command and their seeking of His pleasure, are not distracted from prayer and the remembrance of Allah by anything from the affairs of this world. Many of the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, said: This verse was revealed concerning the people of the markets who, when they hear the call to prayer, abandon all work and hasten to it. Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar saw the people of the markets approaching the prayer and said: These are the ones Allah, glorified and exalted is He, meant by His saying: "No trade or sale distracts them from the remembrance of Allah." This was also narrated from Ibn Mas'ud.

And "establishment" is a noun derived from the verb aqama yuqimu, its origin being iqwam. The movement of the waw was transferred to the qaf, so it remained silent, and the alif is silent. The waw was omitted due to the meeting of two silent letters, thus it came as "iqama." Some grammarians said: It is a noun in itself that may not be used in an unqualified form. It was said: It is not permissible to say: I established it as iqama, but it is only used in an added form. Al-Rummani mentioned this, and some of them, based on their observation that it is only used in an added form, said: A ha was added to it in place of the omitted letter, thus it came as "iqama." So when they use it in an added form, they omit the substitute because they do not need it, for the added and the added to it are like one name. And "the zakah" here, according to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, means obedience to Allah. Al-Hasan said: It is the obligatory zakah on wealth. And "the frightening day" mentioned by Allah, blessed and exalted is He, is the Day of Resurrection.

People have differed regarding the turning of hearts and eyes; how is it? One group said: People see the realities clearly, and the hearts of the doubters and those who hold false beliefs turn from their beliefs to the belief in the truth. Likewise, the eyes. Another group said: It is a turning on the embers of Hell. The purpose of the verse is to describe the horror of the Day of Resurrection. As for the first saying, it does not imply horror, and as for the second, the turning on the embers of Hell does not occur on the Day of Resurrection, but rather after it. The meaning of the verse, in my view, is that due to its great horror and emergence, the hearts and eyes are disturbed, anxious, and turning from hope for salvation to hope, and from fear of destruction to fear, and from looking at horror to looking at the other. The Arabs use this meaning in wars and similar situations, and from it is the saying of the poet:

"But your heart was in the wings of a bird."

And from it is the saying of Bishar:

"As if his heart were a ball that rolls..."

And this is abundant.