'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' The Exalted and Majestic says: "Blessed is He who made in the heaven constellations and made therein a lamp and a shining moon. And He is the One who made the night and the day successive for whoever wishes to remember or wishes for gratitude. And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth humbly, and when the ignorant address them, they say, 'Peace.'" When Quraysh made their question about Allah, the Exalted, and about His name, which is the Most Merciful, a question about the unknown, this verse was revealed, clarifying His attributes that define Him and necessitate acknowledgment of His divinity. The "constellations" are those known to the Arabs by experience and every nation that observes the sky. They are the months according to linguists and those who adjust times. Each constellation is two and a third of the lunar mansions mentioned by Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in His saying: "And the moon We have decreed its phases" [Ya-Sin: 39]. The Arabs call a tall building that is self-sufficient a "tower," likening it to the towers of the heavens. Hence His saying, blessed and exalted is He: "And if you were in lofty towers" [An-Nisa: 78]. Al-Akhtal said: Like a Roman tower built with plaster and bricks and stones. Some people said regarding this verse we are discussing: the constellations are the palaces in Paradise. Al-Amash said: The companions of Abdullah used to read it as: "in the heaven palaces." It was said that the constellations are the great stars, as reported by Al-Thalabi from Abu Salih. This is similar to what we have explained, except that it is not summarized. The saying that they are palaces in Paradise diminishes the purpose of the verse in alerting to things that can be perceived, which establish proof against every denier of Allah or ignorant of Him. The majority read: "a lamp," referring to the sun. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Al-Qisai, and Al-Amash read: "lamps," which is the name for all lights. He has specifically mentioned the moon for honor. Al-Nakha'i, Ibn Wathab, and Al-Amash also read: "lamps" with the ra' being silent. Abu Hatim narrated that 'Ismah from Al-Hasan said: "and a moon" with a dammah on the qaf and a silent mim, and I do not know what he meant except that it could be a plural like "thamar" and "thumur." Abu Amr said: This is the reading of Al-Amash and Al-Nakha'i. His saying: "successive" means: this follows that. Among the meanings is the saying of Zuhayr: With it the eyes and the gazelles walk successively, and its companions rise from every gathering. From this is the saying of another describing a woman who moves from a winter residence to a summer residence regularly: And she has in the rain when the ant eats what they gathered, Successive until when it settles, it resides from Jilq in a dwelling, In houses amidst a gathering, surrounded by olive trees that may bear fruit.

(p-454) And Mujahid said: "Khilfatan" is from the word khilaf. This one is white and that one is black, similar to what we have mentioned. Mujahid and others said: ﴿For whoever wishes to be reminded﴾ means: to take heed from the creations and to thank Allah, glorified and exalted is He, for His blessings upon him in intellect, thought, and understanding. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, Al-Hasan, and Ibn Abbas said: Its meaning is: for whoever wishes to remember what he has missed of good and prayer and the like in one of them, so he can make up for it in the one that follows. Hamzah alone read: "Yadhkur" with the dhāl being silent and the kāf being pronounced with a dammah, which is the reading of Ibn Wathab, Talhah, and al-Nakha'i. The others read: "Yadhdhakkar" with the dhāl being emphasized. In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is read: "Yatadhakkar" with an added tā. Then when He, glorified and exalted is He, said: ﴿For whoever wishes to be reminded or wishes to be grateful﴾, He came with the description of His servants who are the people of remembrance and gratitude. And "the servants" and "the slaves" mean the same, except that "the servants" is used in places of emphasis. A group from Abd al-Qays were called the servants because Kisra ruled over them instead of the Arabs. It is said that they worshipped along with the Christians of al-Hirah, thus they became servants of Allah. To them belongs 'Adi ibn Zayd al-'Abadi. Al-Hasan read: and the servants of the Most Merciful, which was mentioned by al-Thalabi. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Those who walk﴾ is a news of beginning, and the meaning is: and His true servants are those who walk. And His saying: ﴿They walk upon the earth gently﴾ is an expression of their living, the duration of their lives, and their actions. He mentioned from that the most significant, especially in that movement on the earth is the companionship of people and their mingling. Then He said: "gently" meaning all of their affairs are gentle, that is, soft and good. Mujahid said: with forbearance and dignity. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: with obedience, chastity, and humility. Al-Hasan said: with forbearance; if ignorance is shown towards them, they do not act ignorantly. A group went to say that "gently" is related to His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿They walk upon the earth﴾ meaning that walking is gentleness. It seems that this could be interpreted in such a way that the morals of that walker are gentle, suitable for his walking. Thus the saying returns to what we have explained. As for it being intended as the description of the walking alone, that is false; for there are indeed walkers who walk gently while being wolves. And indeed, "the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to sway in his walking as if he were walking in a slope, and he, blessings and peace be upon him, said in this verse: "Whoever among you walks in greed, let him walk gently." He only intended in his intention, and did not mean the walking alone. Do you not see that the false claimants who adorn themselves with religion only cling to the appearance of walking? Until a poet criticized them saying: All of them walk gently, all of them seek prey. And al-Zuhri said: The swiftness of walking takes away from the beauty of the face. Abu Muhammad al-Qadi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

He intends rapid haste; because it disrupts dignity, and the good is in moderation. Zayd ibn Aslam said: I used to ask about the interpretation of His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Those who walk upon the earth humbly﴾, but I found no cure in that. I saw in a dream someone came to me and said: They are those who do not intend to cause corruption on the earth.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is for the interpretation in character. And "humbly" means: gently and purposefully. From this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Love your beloved moderately"; and His saying: ﴿And when the ignorant address them, they say [words of] peace﴾. They differed in the interpretation of that. One group said: The speaker should say to the ignorant: "Peace" with this wording, meaning: We have greeted with peace and salutation and the like, so the action in it is a deed from its wording according to the grammarians. What I say is that His saying: "they said" is the agent in "peace"; because the meaning is: they said this word. Mujahid said: The meaning of "peace" is a correct saying, meaning: he speaks to the ignorant with words that he repels with gentleness and kindness. They said in this interpretation: the agent in His saying "peace" is according to the grammarians, and that is because it means: a saying. And this verse was before the verse of the sword, so what pertains to the disbelievers was abrogated from it, and its etiquette remains for the Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. Sibawayh mentioned the abrogation in this verse in his book, and he did not speak about any other abrogation, and he preferred that the intended meaning is safety, not salutation; because the believers were never commanded to greet non-Muslims, and the verse is Meccan and was abrogated by the verse of the sword.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I saw in some [manuscripts] of history that Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi - who was among those inclined towards Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him - said one day in the presence of al-Ma'mun - and with him a group: I used to see Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, in my sleep, and I would say to him: Who are you? He would say: I am Ali ibn Abi Talib. I would come with him to a bridge, and he would go ahead of me in crossing it. I would say to him: You only claim this matter through a woman, and we are more deserving of it than you. I did not see him in response having the eloquence as is mentioned about him. Al-Ma'mun said: And how did he respond to you? He said: He would say to me: Peace, peace. The narrator said: It seems that Ibrahim ibn al-Mahdi did not memorize the verse, or it had slipped his mind at that time, so al-Ma'mun pointed to the verse in front of those who were present with him, and said: By Allah, O uncle, it is Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and he has responded to you with the most eloquent response. Ibrahim became sad and felt shy, and his vision was undoubtedly true.