His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Is there anyone who answers the distressed when he calls upon Him and removes the evil and makes you successors on the earth? Is there a god with Allah? Little do you remember﴾ ﴿Is there anyone who guides you in the darkness of land and sea and who sends the winds as good tidings before His mercy? Is there a god with Allah? Exalted is Allah above what they associate﴾ ﴿Is there anyone who begins creation and then returns it? And who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Is there a god with Allah? Say, 'Bring forth your proof if you are among the truthful﴾ ﴿Say, 'No one knows the unseen of the heavens and the earth except Allah, and they do not perceive when they will be resurrected﴾ ﴿Rather, their knowledge has encompassed the Hereafter. Rather, they are in doubt about it. Rather, they are blind to it﴾.

He has stopped them in these verses at the meanings that are clear to every rational person that there is no entry for an idol or a statue in them. They are lessons and blessings. The proof is established by them from both angles.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Who answers the distressed﴾ means: with the condition that He wills according to the belief in the response. However, the distressed is not answered except by Allah, exalted and majestic is He. And "the evil" is general for every harm that Allah, exalted is He, removes from His servants. Al-Hasan read: "and makes you" with a 'yaa' in the future tense, and it has been narrated from him with a 'noon'. And every generation is a successor to the one before it. The majority read: "you remember" with a 'taa' in the address, while Abu Amr alone, Al-Hasan, and Al-A'mash read with a 'yaa' in the third person.

And "the darkness" is general for the darkness of the night, which is the reality in the language, and for the darkness of ignorance, misguidance, and fear, which are metaphors and comparisons. This is like the saying of the poet:

The blindness of men is revealed from the youth

And as you say: The matter has darkened and illuminated. And the difference of the reciters has already been mentioned regarding His saying: "as good tidings". Al-Hasan and others read: "they associate" with a 'yaa' in the third person, while the majority read: "you associate" in the address.

And "the beginning of creation" is its invention and existence, and "the creation" here refers to the created from all things. However, the intended meaning is the children of Adam regarding the mention of the return and resurrection from the graves. It is possible that by "creation" he means the source: created creates, and "begins" and "returns" are metaphors for perfection and excellence, as you say: So-and-so begins and returns in such and such a matter, meaning he perfects it. And "provision" from the heaven is through rain, and from the earth is through plants. This is well-known and felt by humans, and how many hidden kindnesses Allah, blessed and exalted is He, has.

Then Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, commanded His Prophet to inform them that the knowledge of the unseen is something that only Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, possesses. That is why it is called the unseen, due to its being hidden from the created beings. It is narrated that this verse, from His saying: "Say, no one knows," was revealed because the disbelievers asked and insisted about the time of the Resurrection that He promised them. Thus, this verse was revealed to submit to the command of Allah, the Most High, and to refrain from specifying it. And Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, knows that no one knows the time of the Hour except Him. So He came with a wording that encompasses the listener and others, and informed humanity that they do not perceive when they will be resurrected. With this verse, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, argued against those who claimed that Muhammad knows the unseen, saying that they have greatly lied against Allah. The phrase written in His saying: "except Allah" is a substitute for "who." The majority of the people read "when" with a fathah on the hamzah, while Abu Abdur-Rahman as-Sulami read it with a kasrah. Both are two dialects.

The majority of the people read: "but they attained," its original form being: "they attained," where the ت (ta) was merged into the د (dal) after it was substituted, then the alif of connection was needed. Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: "they attained" as was narrated from him. And Asim - in the narration of Abu Bakr - read: "but they attained" in the form of ifta'al, which means tafa'ala. Sulayman ibn Yasar and Ata ibn Yasar read: "but they attained" with a fathah on the lam and no hamzah, and with the dal being doubled without an alif. Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Abu Ja'far, and the people of Mecca read: "but they attained." In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is written: "Or has their knowledge attained?" Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, read: "but they attained," and he also read: "but they have attained" with a hamzah and a prolongation in the manner of questioning. Ibn Muhaysin read: "but they have attained" in the manner of questioning, and Abu Amr ad-Dani attributed it to Ibn Abbas and Al-Hasan.

As for the reading in the manner of questioning, it indicates mockery of the disbelievers and confirms for them what is far removed from them. That is, do they know the matter of the Hereafter and have their knowledge attained it? As for the first reading, it can have two meanings: one of them is: but their knowledge has attained, meaning it has reached its limit, as you say: the plant has attained, and likewise you say: this is what my knowledge has attained from such and such. Their knowledge of the Hereafter has continued and reached a point where they recognize its measure and believe in it, but they only have false assumptions, or they do not know its time. Likewise, "attained" and "they attained" and others. If this reading carries the meaning of stopping and questioning, it is acceptable, and it came as a denial that they have attained anything beneficial. The second meaning is: but they attain, meaning that they will perceive their knowledge at the time of the Resurrection, and they will see the punishment and the truths they denied, but in this world, they do not. This is the interpretation of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is the view of Az-Zajjaj. His saying: "in the Hereafter" - according to this interpretation - is a circumstance, and according to the first interpretation, it means by, and knowledge may extend with a preposition. You say: my knowledge increases such and such, and from it is the saying of the poet:

And my knowledge of the names of the waters...

The House

Then He described them, glorified and exalted is He, as being in doubt about it. Then He followed them with a description that is more profound than doubt, which is being entirely blind to the matter of the Hereafter. And "‘Amun" is originally "‘Amiun," so it is like "Hadhirun" and others.