'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And recite to them the news of Abraham," "When he said to his father and his people, 'What do you worship?'" "They said, 'We worship idols, and we remain devoted to them.'" "He said, 'Do they hear you when you call?'" "Or do they benefit you or harm you?" "They said, 'Rather, we found our forefathers doing the same.'" "He said, 'Have you considered what you used to worship?" "You and your forefathers, the former ones?" "Indeed, they are enemies to me, except for the Lord of the worlds.'" This story contains the informing of the unseen, and the bringing of what proves that Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, did not know it. Then it appeared on his tongue in that which is in the earlier scriptures. And this verse is not an example for Quraysh except in the matter of the idols only; because there is no denial and punishment in it. And the saying of Abraham, peace be upon him: "What do you worship?" is an inquiry with the meaning of affirmation. And the idol is what was from the images of mankind, made of stone or wood or otherwise. And "remaining devoted" is known in the action of something during the day, and "spending the night" is known in its action at night, and "beginning" is generally for both. However, it may come as "shadow" in the meaning of generality, and this place is one of those. And "devotion" means adherence, and from it is the one who performs i'tikaf, and from it is the saying of the poet: "The devoted one plays the fandango." Then Abraham, peace be upon him, began to stop them at things that the mind witnesses are far from the attributes of God. The majority read with a fatḥah on the yā' of "Do they hear you?" And Qatadah read with a ḍammah and kasrah on the mīm, meaning 'who makes hear', and the object - according to this reading - is omitted. The majority of the reciters read: "When you call" with the idghām of the dāl into the tā', after the qalb, and it is permissible in it to be masculine, and no one has read it this way. The analogy is that the wording would be "When you call". What prevented this wording is the connection of the original dāl in the action, so the similarities increased. And their saying: "Rather, we found our forefathers doing the same" is one of the ugliest forms of imitation; because it is based on misguidance, and in a matter that is clear in its contradiction, and of great importance. So when they declared to Abraham, peace be upon him, the greatness of that and their lack of consideration, and that they have no proof, he addressed them with his disavowal from all that was worshipped besides Allah, exalted and glorified is He, and his enmity towards it. And he expressed his hatred and rejection of every object of worship besides Allah, the Exalted, with enmity; as it necessitates the explanation. And it is said: in the speech there is a reversal; because the idols do not oppose, rather he opposed them. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Except for the Lord of the worlds" a group said: it is a connected exception; because among the earlier forefathers are those who worshipped besides Allah, blessed and exalted is He. And a group said: it is a disconnected exception; because he only intended the worship of idols from every generation among them. And the term "enemy" necessitates for all, the singular, and the feminine.