His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿That Allah may reward them with the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allah provides for whom He wills without account.﴾ ﴿And those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a plain. The thirsty one thinks it is water until he comes to it and finds it nothing. And he finds Allah before him, so He pays him his account. And Allah is swift in account.﴾ ﴿Or like darkness in a deep sea, covered by a wave above which is a wave above which is a cloud. Darknesses, some of them above others. If he extends his hand, he can hardly see it. And whoever Allah does not make for him a light, for him there is no light.﴾

The 'lam' in His saying, the Exalted, 'That Allah may reward them' is related to an implied action, the meaning of which is: they did that, and they facilitated for that, and similar to this. It is possible that it is related to His saying, glorified is He: 'They glorify.' And His saying: 'the best of what they did' has an omitted addition, the meaning of which is: the reward for the best of what they did. Then He, exalted and majestic is He, promised them an increase from His bounty beyond what their deeds necessitate. So, the people of Paradise are always in increase. Then He mentioned that He provides for whom He wills, and He specifies for whom He wills from His mercy without account or enumeration. And every favor from Allah is without account, and every recompense for a deed is with account.

And because Allah, the Exalted, mentioned in what preceded this verse the state of faith and the believers and the illumination of their hearts, He followed that by mentioning the disbelievers and their deeds. He likened them and their deeds with two parables: the first of which indicates the state of their deeds in the Hereafter, that they are not beneficial or useful. The second indicates their state in this world, that they are ultimately in misguidance and gloom, which he likened to what he mentioned of the intensity of darkness in His saying: 'Or like darkness.'

And 'the mirage' is what shimmers from the air in the heat of the day in the plains of the flat land, and it deceives the observer from afar into thinking it is water. It is named so because it flows like water. Similarly, the deeds of the disbeliever, he thinks in his worldly life that they are beneficial to him. But when the Day of Resurrection comes, he finds them to be nothing. They are like the mirage that the thirsty observer thinks is water. When he approaches it and exhausts himself in reaching it, he finds nothing. And 'the plain' is the plural of 'qaa', like 'jaar' and 'jeerah'. The 'qaa' is the low flat land of the earth. From it is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding the one who withholds the zakat of the animals: 'Then he will be laid down in a plain of burning sand.' And it is said that 'the plain' is singular, meaning 'the low land.' And Muslima ibn Muharib read: 'in plains.' And Abu Ja'far, Shaiba, and Nafi' read differently: 'the thirsty one' with a fathah on the meem and omitting the diacritical mark on the meem and leaving the diacritical mark.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Until when he came to it, he found it not anything﴾ means: not anything beneficial in thirst, or it means: not anything existing in general. And by "came to it," He means he came to the place he imagined it to be. It is possible that the pronoun in "came to it" refers back to the mirage. Then there would be something left in the speech that the apparent meaning indicates, its estimation being: so likewise the disbeliever on the Day of Resurrection thinks his deeds are beneficial until when he comes to it, he finds it not anything. And it is possible that the pronoun refers back to the deeds indicated by His saying: "Their deeds," and the completion of the parable is in His saying: "water." And the speech suffices without anything left on this interpretation, but there would be in the parable brevity and conciseness for the clarity of the intended meaning.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And found Allah with him﴾ means: in the reckoning, and the pronoun in "with him" refers back to knowledge. And the rest of the verse is clear, in it is a warning and swiftness of reckoning from the standpoint that it is with knowledge without any difficulty in it.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Or like darknesses" is an addition to His saying: "Like a mirage." And this last example includes the description of their deeds in this world, meaning that they are from misguidance and similar to this collective darkness from these things. Some people have gone to say that in this example there are parts that correspond to parts of the represented. They said: the darknesses are the corrupt deeds and false beliefs, and the deep sea is the chest of the disbeliever and his heart. And "deep" means having depth, which is the majority of water and its overwhelming, and the gathering of its water is more severe for its darkness. And the wave is the misguidance or ignorance that has overwhelmed his heart, and the crooked thought, and the cloud is his desire in disbelief and his turning away from faith and what has been sealed upon his heart.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This interpretation is permissible, and that this correspondence is permissible.

Sufyan ibn Husayn read: "Or like darknesses" with the 'waw' opened, and the majority of the seven reciters read: "cloud" with raising and without tanween "darknesses." And Ibn Kathir - in the narration of Qanbal - read: "cloud" with raising and without tanween "darknesses" with lowering as a substitute for "darknesses" the first. And Ibn Abi Bazzah from Ibn Kathir read: "cloud" without tanween as an addition to "darknesses."

And His saying: ﴿If he were to take out his hand, he would hardly see it﴾ is a phrase that implies the intensity of the darkness. And the people have differed regarding this phrase, does it imply that this man - estimated in these conditions and took out his hand - saw his hand or did not see it at all? A group said: he did not see it at all, and that is because "hardly" means nearly, so it is as if he said: if he were to take out his hand, he would not nearly see it. And this implies the negation of seeing at all. And another group said: rather he saw it after difficulty and hardship, and it was as if he did not see it. And the reason for that is that "hardly" when accompanied by a negation requires the action that follows it, and if it is not accompanied by it, the action is negated.

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

This is necessary whenever the negation particle is after "kada" and is included in the action that follows it. You say: "Kada Zaydun yaqoomu" (Zayd was about to stand), so standing is negated. If you say: "Kada Zaydun alla yaqooma" (Zayd was about to not stand), then standing is obligatory and occurs. You say: "Kada an-na'amu yatir" (The ostrich was about to fly), this implies the negation of flying for it. If you say: "Kada an-na'amu alla yatira" (The ostrich was about to not fly), then flying is obligatory for it. Therefore, if the negation particle is with "kada," the matter is ambiguous; sometimes it necessitates the action, and sometimes it negates it. You say: "Al-mafluj la yakadu yaskun" (The paralyzed person hardly ever remains still), this is correct speech that includes the negation of stillness. You say: "Rajulun mutakallimun la yakadu yaskun" (A speaking man hardly ever remains still), this is correct speech that implies the necessity of stillness after effort and rarely. Among this is His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Fadhabahu wa ma kadao yaf'aloon" (They slaughtered it, and they were hardly going to do it) [Al-Baqarah: 71], a negation with "kada" that includes the obligation of slaughtering. And His saying in this verse: "Lam yakad yaraaha" (He hardly saw it), a negation with "kada" that implies in one of the interpretations the negation of sight. For this and similar reasons, Sibawayh, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Indeed, the actions of approximation have another aspect," meaning that they are precise in their use.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Wa man lam yaj'al Allahu lahu nooran fama lahu min noorin" (And whoever Allah does not make for him a light, for him there is no light), a group said: He means: in this world, meaning: whoever Allah does not guide, he will not be guided. Another group said: He meant: in the Hereafter, meaning: whoever Allah does not have mercy on and illuminate his state with pardon and mercy, then there is no mercy for him. The first is clearer and more appropriate to the wording of the verse. Also, that is interconnected; the light of the Hereafter is only for the one who illuminated his heart in this world and was guided. The Shari'ah has established that whoever passes for his Hereafter upon his disbelief is not among those who are shown mercy or forgiven.