His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And if you could see when the criminals lower their heads before their Lord, saying: Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so send us back to work righteousness; indeed, we are certain." "And if We had willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me has come into effect: I will surely fill Hell with jinn and mankind all together." "So taste [the punishment] for what you have forgotten the meeting of this Day of yours. Indeed, We have forgotten you. And taste the punishment of eternity for what you used to do." "Indeed, only those who believe in Our verses are those who, when they are reminded of them, fall down in prostration and glorify the praises of their Lord, and they are not arrogant."

His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "If you could see" is a wonder for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and his nation from the state of the disbelievers and what has befallen them. The response to "if" is omitted; for its omission is more impactful, as it leaves the person in the utmost of his imagination. And "the criminals" are the disbelievers; as indicated by their saying: "Indeed, we are certain," meaning that they were in the world not certain. And "lowering their heads" is from the horror, humiliation, despair, and worry due to the arrival of punishment and the attachment of their souls to returning to the world. And there is an omitted saying in it: they say: Our Lord. And their saying: "We have seen and heard" means: we were not informed of what we were told in the world, so we were disbelieving in it, then they requested to return when that would not benefit them.

Then He informed, blessed and exalted is He, about Himself that if He had willed, He would have guided all mankind, meaning: He would have treated them with a kindness that would cause them to believe in Him and create faith in their hearts. This is the view of the people of the Sunnah. Some of the interpreters said: a sign will be presented to them that forces them to believe.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is the saying of some of the Mu'tazilites, except that those we referred to among the interpreters did not understand the weight of the saying nor its significance, and that is why he narrated it. What leads the Mu'tazilites to this statement is that they see that whoever is able to treat a person with kindness until he believes and does not act, then that is not from wisdom nor from the straight matter. The discussion on this issue is lengthy and has its own writings, and "the jinn" refers to the devils.

And His saying: "So taste the punishment" means: it is said to them: taste. And "you have forgotten" means: you have left, as said by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and others. And in the speech, there is an omitted addition, the meaning of which is: action, or a number, and so forth. And His saying: "Indeed, We have forgotten you" named the punishment by the name of the sin. And His saying: "for what you used to do" means: for your earning of sins.

Then He praised, glorified and exalted is He, the people who believe in His signs. He described them with the good quality of their prostration when reminded and their glorification of Him, and their lack of arrogance. This is in contrast to what disbelief does, which is turning away when reminded, speaking words of rejection, and showing arrogance. This prostration is one of the essential prostrations in the Qur'an. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The prostration here means bowing. It has also been narrated from Ibn Jurayj and Mujahid that this verse was revealed because of a group of hypocrites who would leave the mosque when the prayer was established. So it seems that bowing is intended by this. It follows from this that the verse must be Medinan. Also, from the view of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, the one who recites the prostration should bow, and he supported this with His saying: 'And he fell down bowing and turned back' [Sad: 24].