His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die, and glorify Him with His praise. And sufficient is He as All-Aware of the sins of His servants.﴾ ﴿The One who created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days, then He established Himself upon the Throne. Ask Him as All-Aware.﴾ ﴿And when it is said to them, "Prostrate to the Most Merciful," they say, "And what is the Most Merciful? Shall we prostrate to that which you command us?" And it increases them in aversion.﴾

The meaning: Say to them, O Muhammad, this statement to which no doubt will turn towards you, and do not concern yourself with it. And give glad tidings and warn, and rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die. For He is the one responsible for your victory in all your affairs.

Then He described Himself with the attribute that necessitates reliance in His saying: ﴿the Ever-Living who does not die﴾; for this meaning is specific to Allah, blessed and exalted is He, without all that is in the world that is called living. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿And glorify Him with His praise﴾ means: Say, "Glory be to Allah and praise Him." That is, glorifying Him is obligatory, and with His praise I say.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever says every day, 'Glory be to Allah and praise Him' one hundred times, his sins will be forgiven even if they are like the foam of the sea." This is the meaning of: ﴿And glorify Him with His praise﴾, and it is one of the two light words upon the tongue, but heavy in the scales. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿And sufficient﴾ is a warning, and it removes a burden from the shoulders of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, in his concern for them.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿The One who created the heavens and the earth﴾ with the plural "heavens," it was said: it is permissible in that the word "earth" is equal to the word "heavens." And from this is the saying of Umair ibn Shuyaym:

Did it not sadden you that the ropes of Qays and Taghlib have become distinct in severance, In that a rope is equal to ropes. And from this is the saying of another:

Indeed, death and calamities, both of them, Fulfill the obligations, watching my blackness.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿In six days﴾, the narration has differed regarding the day in which Allah, exalted is He, began creation. Most narrations are upon the day of Sunday, and in Muslim and in the Book of Signs: the day of Saturday. And it becomes clear by the fact that this is in six days the state of patience and deliberation in affairs; for His ability necessitates that He could create them in the blink of an eye if He willed, there is no deity except Him, and the saying regarding the establishment has preceded.

And His saying: "the Most Merciful" is possible that its raising is by implying a subject, meaning: He is the Most Merciful, and it is possible that it is a substitute for the pronoun in His saying: "established Himself." And Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn read: "the Most Merciful" with the genitive.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So ask a knowledgeable one about it﴾ has two possible meanings. One of them is: ask about it, and "knowledgeable one" - in this case - is in the accusative due to the occurrence of the question upon it. The meaning is: ask Gabriel, the scholars, and the people of the revealed books. The second meaning could be as you say: if I were to meet so-and-so, I would meet the sea in generosity, meaning: I would receive from him. The meaning is: ask Allah about every matter, and "knowledgeable one" - in this case - is in the accusative either due to the occurrence of the question or as an emphatic state, as He, exalted is He, said: ﴿And it is the truth confirming﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 91]. And this is not a transitional state; for the noble attribute does not change.

And when "the Most Gracious" was mentioned in this verse, Quraysh did not know this in the names of Allah, blessed and exalted is He. And Musaylimah the liar of Yamamah was named "the Most Gracious," so Quraysh disputed about that and said: indeed, Muhammad commands the worship of the Most Gracious of Yamamah. Then His saying, exalted is He, was revealed: ﴿And when it is said to them, prostrate to the Most Gracious﴾ the verse. And His saying: ﴿And what is the Most Gracious?﴾ is an inquiry about something unknown to them; thus, "what" is in its well-known form. And the majority of the reciters read: "You command us" with the 'taa', meaning: you, O Muhammad. And Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Al-Aswad ibn Yazid, and Ibn Mas'ud read: "He commands us" with the 'yaa' from below, either intending Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and referring to him in the third person, or intending the Most Gracious of Yamamah. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And He increased them﴾ means: this word led them astray in a way specific to it, except for what has preceded from them.