His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And the blind and the seeing are not equal, nor are the darknesses and the light, nor are the shade and the heat. And the living and the dead are not equal. Indeed, Allah causes to hear whom He wills, and you cannot make hear those in the graves. You are not except as a warner. Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And there is no nation but that there has passed within it a warner. And if they deny you, then those before them have denied. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs and with the scriptures and with the enlightening book. Then I seized those who disbelieved, so how was My reproach?"

The essence of this verse is a criticism of the disbelievers. It likens them to the blind and the darknesses, and it likens the believers - in contrast to them - to the seeing and the lights. His saying, exalted is He: "nor the light" and the inclusion of "no" in it and in what follows is intended for repetition, as if He said: "nor the darknesses and the light, nor the light and the darknesses." Thus, the mention of the former suffices for the latter, and the mentioned verse indicates what is omitted.

"And the heat" refers to the intensity of the sun's heat. Ru'bah ibn al-Ajajj said: "The heat is at night and the samoom is during the day." This is not as he said; rather, the matter is as al-Farra and others have narrated: that the samoom is specific to the day, while "the heat" can refer to the heat of the night and the heat of the day. Some have interpreted the shade in this verse as Paradise, and the heat as Hell.

And he compared the believers to the living, and the disbelievers to the dead, in that they do not understand the reminder nor do they accept it. Then he returned the matter to the will of Allah, exalted and majestic is He, with His saying: "Indeed, Allah causes to hear whom He wills," and His saying: "And you cannot make hear those in the graves." This is a comparison to what humans perceive and witness. They see that the dead in the grave do not hear, whereas the souls do not return; as the hadiths indicate that the souls of the believers are in trees by the Throne and in lanterns and other than that, and that the souls of the disbelievers are in Sijjin and similar places. In some reports, it is mentioned that the souls are near the graves, so perhaps they hear. Likewise, the people of the Well of Badr only heard their souls, and the hearing of the dead of the footsteps is only the return of their souls to them at the meeting with the two angels. Thus, this verse does not contradict the hadith of the Well, for Allah, blessed and exalted is He, returned their souls to them to reprimand them. This is according to the saying of Umar and his son Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both - and this is the correct view - that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "You do not hear better than them." As for Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, her view is that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, did not make them hear, and that he only intended to reprimand the living among the disbelievers. She made this verse a principle and used it as evidence, for Allah, exalted and majestic is He, has likened the disbelievers to the individuals in the graves. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan read: "with a hearer from" in the addition.

Then He consoled His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, with His saying: "You are not except as a warner," meaning: there is nothing upon you other than that, and guidance and misguidance are with Allah, exalted and majestic is He.

'And 'Bashiran' means: with the everlasting bliss for whoever believes, and 'Nadhiran' means: from the painful punishment for whoever disbelieves. And His saying, 'And there is no nation except that there has passed within it a warner,' means: that the call of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has encompassed all of creation. Even if there are among them those who have not been directly warned, they are among those who have received the message; because Adam, peace be upon him, was sent to his children, and this did not cease until the time of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The verses that imply that Quraysh did not receive a warner mean: a direct warner. And what the speakers have mentioned regarding the obligation of the companions of the periods and similar matters is merely a supposition, not that there exists a nation that was not made aware that there is a call on earth to the worship of Allah. Then He consoled His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, with what has passed from the nations and their prophets. And 'the clear signs' and 'the scriptures' and 'the enlightening book' are one thing, but He emphasized their descriptions by one another and mentioned them in their aspects. And 'the scriptures' is from: I wrote the book when I wrote it. Then He warned Quraysh by mentioning the nations of disbelievers.