His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and feared it. And man bore it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant." "So that Allah may punish the hypocrites and the hypocritical women, and the polytheists and the polytheistic women, and that Allah may accept repentance from the believers and the believing women. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

People have differed regarding the trust. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It is the trusts of wealth, like deposits and similar things. It has been narrated from him that it is in all obligations, and the most severe of them is the trust of wealth.

A group, which is the majority, went to the opinion that it is everything that a person is entrusted with, in matters of command and prohibition, and in the affairs of religion and the world. Thus, all of the Shari'ah is a trust. Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Among the trust is that a woman is entrusted with her private parts. Abu Darda, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The washing of major impurity is a trust. The meaning of the verse is: We offered this great creation to bear the commands and prohibitions, and to deserve reward if it does good and punishment if it does evil. But these creations refused and were afraid.

It is possible that this is with an understanding that Allah creates for them. It is also possible that this offer was to those among them from the angels. It has been narrated that they said: "O Lord, leave me devoted to what You wish, obedient in it, and do not leave me to my own sight and actions, nor do I want a reward." And man bore the trust: meaning he committed to fulfilling its rights, and in that he is unjust to himself, ignorant of the extent of what he has entered into. This is the interpretation of Ibn Abbas and Ibn Jubair. Al-Hasan said: "And he bore it" means he betrayed it, and the verse is about the disbeliever and the hypocrite.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And the sinners according to their degree.

Ibn Abbas and his companions, Al-Dahhak, and others said: The human being is Adam. He bore the trust, and he did not complete a day until he disobeyed the disobedience that expelled him from Paradise. It has been narrated that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, said to him: "O Adam, indeed I offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and feared it. Will you bear it with what is in it?" He said: "And what is in it?" He said: "If you do good, you will be rewarded, and if you do evil, you will be punished." He said: "Yes, I have borne it." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: "He did not pass between the first prayer and the afternoon prayer until he disobeyed his Lord."

Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abbas said: The human being is the son of Adam, Qabil, who killed his brother. He had borne the trust for his father to protect the family after him. Adam, peace be upon him, traveled to Makkah in a long narration mentioned by Al-Tabari and others.

Some of them said: The human being is the entire species, and this is good with the generality of the trust.

Al-Zajjaj said: The meaning of the verse is: Indeed, We offered the trust in our prohibitions and commands to these creations, and they complied with our command and obeyed in what We tasked them, and they refused to bear the blame in our disobedience. And man bore the blame in what We tasked him with from our commands and our Shari'ah. And the human being - according to his interpretation - is the disbeliever and the sinner.

This verse aligns with His saying, "We came willingly" [Fussilat: 11]. According to the first interpretation that we have mentioned, His saying, "We came willingly" [Fussilat: 11] is a response to a command that was given to it. This verse serves as a refusal and a feeling of compassion regarding a matter that was presented to it, and it was given a choice in it. It has been narrated that "Allah presented the trust to these creatures, and they refused. When Allah, glorified and exalted is He, presented it to Adam, peace be upon him, he said: 'I will carry it between my ears and my shoulders.' Allah said: 'Indeed, I will assist you. I have made a veil for your sight, so close it to what is not permissible for you, and for your private parts, I have provided clothing, so do not expose it except to what I have made lawful for you.'" And there have been other narrations on this matter that I have omitted for brevity due to their lack of authenticity.

Some people said that the verse is metaphorical, meaning that if we compared the weight of the trust with the strength of the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, we would see that they could not bear it. If they could speak, they would refuse it and feel compassion. He expressed this meaning with His words in the verse. This is like saying: "I presented the burden to the camel, and it refused it," meaning: "I compared its strength with the weight of the burden and saw that it falls short of it."

And His saying, "So that Allah may punish"—the 'lam' (ل) is the lam of consequence; because man did not carry it for the punishment to occur, but he carried it, and the matter resulted in the punishment of those who were hypocrites and those who associated partners with Allah, and for Allah to accept repentance from those who believed. The majority read: "He may accept repentance" in the accusative, as an addition to His saying, "So that He may punish." Al-Hasan raised it as a separate and independent statement. The rest of the verse is clear.

The interpretation of Surah Al-Ahzab is completed with the help and success of Allah.

And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.