His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿He punishes whom He wills and has mercy on whom He wills, and to Him you will be returned﴾ ﴿And you are not able to escape in the earth nor in the heaven, and you have not besides Allah any protector or any helper﴾ ﴿And those who disbelieved in the signs of Allah and His meeting, it is they who have despaired of My mercy, and it is they for whom is a painful punishment﴾

The meaning: He facilitates for whom He wills the actions of those upon whom punishment is due, and He facilitates for whom He wills the actions of those for whom happiness has been decreed. Thus, reward and punishment are related to the deeds that are accompanied by the creation which is for Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in the actions of the servants. Then He informed, exalted is He, that to Him is the return, and that mankind is not able to escape nor to evade in the earth nor in the heaven. It is possible that by 'heaven' He means the air above, meaning: there is no way for man to escape whether he ascends or descends, as al-Zahrawi mentioned. It is also possible that He means the known heaven, meaning: you are not able to escape in the earth even if you were in the heaven. Ibn Zayd said: Its meaning is that no one in the heaven can escape if he disobeys. They compared this to the saying of Hassan ibn Thabit:

؎ So who among you insults the Messenger of Allah and praises him and supports him equally?

And the middle interpretation is the best of them, and a similar saying is that of al-A'sha:

؎ And if you were in a pit eighty cubits deep and you ascended to the heavens by a ladder,

It would still draw you down until you are thrown down,

And you would know that I am not prevented from you.

And the protector is more specific than the helper. And Yahya ibn al-Qaqa' and Ibn al-Harith read: "They despaired" without hamzah.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Allah, exalted is He, condemned a people who were insignificant to Him, saying: ﴿It is they who have despaired of My mercy﴾.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And what has preceded from His saying, exalted is He: "Have they not seen" up to this verse may be addressed to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and it may be an interruption in the story of Ibrahim, peace be upon him. It may also be addressed to Ibrahim and a dialogue with his people, and at the end of that, he mentioned the response of his people.