His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And there is no unseen thing in the heavens and the earth except that it is in a clear Book." "Indeed, this Qur'an recounts to the Children of Israel most of that in which they differ." "And indeed, it is guidance and mercy for the believers." "Indeed, your Lord will judge between them by His judgment, and He is the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing." "So put your trust in Allah; indeed, you are upon the clear truth." "Indeed, you cannot make the dead hear, nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they have turned away, retreating." "And you are not a guide to the blind from their error; you can only make hear those who believe in Our verses, so they are Muslims." "And when the word befalls them, We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth that will speak to them that the people were not certain in Our signs." The 'taa' in "ghaa'ibah" is for exaggeration, meaning: there is nothing in the unseen of the unseen and concealment except that it is in a Book (p-557) with Allah in His hidden knowledge. Then He, exalted is He, pointed out that this Qur'an informed the Children of Israel of most of the matters in which they had differences regarding their descriptions. Thus, it came in the Qur'an in its form. Then He described it, exalted is He, as guidance and mercy for the believers, just as He concealed from the disbelievers who are destined for it. The meaning of this is that their disbelief was established with the establishment of the proof and the clarity of the path. Thus, they were blinded by this proof. Then He informed that all of this is by a decree from Allah, exalted is He, and a judgment He has decreed among them. Then He commanded them to put their trust in Him and to have faith in Allah, and that He is upon the truth, meaning: indeed, you are worthy of support and victory. Then He comforted him regarding them and likened them to the dead in terms of the benefit of speaking to these and those being nonexistent. Thus, He likened them once to the dead and once to the deaf. The scholars said: the dead among the living is the one who meets Allah, exalted is He, with his disbelief. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, argued that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, denied that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, made the dead of Badr hear by this verse. She considered the matter by a rational analogy and stood by this verse. It has been authentically reported that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "You cannot make them hear better than they do." Thus, it is likened that the story of Badr is a breaking of the norm for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in that Allah, exalted is He, returned to them a perception by which they heard his words. And were it not for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, informing us of their hearing of his call to them in the sense of reproach for those who remained among the disbelievers, and in the sense of healing the hearts of the Muslims from them. This verse has been opposed by the greeting to the graves and by what has been narrated regarding that the souls are in the whispering of the graves at times. They said: if the dead did not hear, they would not greet him. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And all of this does not oppose the verse; for the greeting upon the graves is indeed an act of worship, and with Allah is the reward for it. It serves as a reminder for the soul about the state of death and the state of the deceased in their lives. And if we allow that the souls are at times near the graves, then if they hear, the soul is not dead. Rather, what is meant by His saying: ﴿Indeed, you cannot make the dead hear﴾ is the individuals who are present, separated from their souls. In this, we say: The norm was broken for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding the people of the pit. This is similar to his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, to the deceased when he entered upon them: "Indeed, they hear the sound of the sandals."

Ibn Kathir read: "And He does not make" with a 'ya' from beneath "the deaf" in the nominative. And similarly in Al-Rum. The others read: "You make" with a 'ta' "the deaf" in the accusative. The majority of the reciters read: "And you are not a guide for the blind" in the genitive. Yahya ibn Al-Harith and Abu Haywah read: "A guide for the blind" with the nunation of the 'dal' and the accusative of "the blind." Hamzah alone read: "And you do not guide the blind" in the future tense, which is the reading of Talhah ibn Waththab and Ibn Yamr. In the Mushaf of Abdullah, it is: "And you do not guide the blind."

The meaning of His saying: ﴿And when the saying befalls them﴾ is when the promise of their punishment, which is included in the saying now from Allah, the Exalted, is fulfilled regarding that - meaning Allah has decreed it upon them - and His decree. This is akin to His saying, the Exalted: ﴿The word of punishment has been justified﴾ [Az-Zumar: 71]. So the meaning of the verse is: And when Allah, the Exalted, intends to execute upon the disbelievers what He had previously known for them of punishment, He brings forth for them a creature from the earth. It has been narrated that this occurs when goodness ceases, and there is no command for good, nor prohibition of evil, and no one remains who is repentant or returning, just as Allah, the Exalted, revealed to Noah: ﴿Indeed, no one will believe from your people except those who have already believed﴾ [Hud: 36]. And "when it befalls" is an expression of permanence and necessity. In the hadith: "Indeed, the creature and the rising of the sun from the west are among the first signs" - and he did not specify the first - and likewise the Dajjal.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The apparent meaning of the hadiths and narrations is that the sun is the last of them. This is because repentance ceases with it. The situation indicates that faith will remain only in individuals, and upon them will blow the wind that does not leave any faith. At that time, it will be exhausted, and the trumpet will be blown. We narrate that the beast will mark a people with faith. We find that 'Isa ibn Maryam, blessings and peace be upon him, will come after the Dajjal, and the people will believe in him. This beast is narrated to emerge from Mount Safa in Mecca, as said by Abdullah ibn Umar. Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with them all, said something similar and stated, 'If I wished to place my foot on the spot of its emergence, I would have done so.' It has been narrated from Qatadah that it emerges in Tihamah. It has also been narrated that it emerges from the Mosque of Kufa from where the oven of Nuh, peace be upon him, overflowed. Some narrated from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman that it will have three appearances. It has been narrated that it is a beast with a shaggy, hairy body. It has been narrated from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that it resembles human beings, and it is in the clouds, with its legs on the ground. It has been narrated that it has gathered from the creation of every living creature. Al-Tha'labi mentioned from Ibn al-Zubayr something similar. It has been narrated that it is a beast whose type is spread across the earth, so it emerges in every land and among every people. His saying - according to this interpretation - 'a beast' is merely a generic name. Al-Niqash narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that it is the snake that overlooks the wall of the Ka'bah, which was uprooted by the eagle when Quraysh intended to rebuild the Ka'bah.

The majority of the people read: 'It will speak to them' from the word of speech. In the Mushaf of Ubayy, it is: 'It will inform them.' Ikrimah interpreted it as 'It will mark them.' Qatadah said: In some readings: 'It will talk to them.' Abu Zar'ah ibn Amr ibn Jurayj read: 'It will speak to them' with a kasrah on the lam from the word of injury, which is a wound. Abu al-Fath said: This is the reading of Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jubayr, Mujahid, and al-Jahdari. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: All of that, by Allah, it will do; it will speak to them and mark them.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

It has been narrated in this that it will pass by the people and mark the disbeliever on his forehead, and it will blacken him and insult him. It may even crush him. It may wipe over the face of the believer, making it white, and after that, faith and disbelief will be known by it.

The majority of the reciters read: 'Indeed, the people' with a kasrah on 'Indeed.' Hamzah, al-Kisai, and Asim read with a fathah on the alif. In the reading of Abdullah, it is: 'It will speak to them that.' This is a confirmation with a fathah, and according to this reading, his saying: 'Indeed, the people' to the end of the verse is from the speech of the beast. This has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is possible that this is from the speech of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic.