His saying, the Exalted and Majestic: "Indeed, Allah is Knowing of the unseen of the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is Knowing of what is in the breasts." "He is the One who made you successors in the earth. So whoever disbelieves, upon him is his disbelief, and the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them before their Lord except in hatred, and the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them except in loss." "Say, 'Have you considered your partners whom you invoke besides Allah? Show me what they created of the earth, or do they have a partnership in the heavens? Or have We given them a Book so they are upon clear evidence from it?' Rather, indeed, the wrongdoers promise each other nothing but delusion." "Indeed, Allah withholds the heavens and the earth from ceasing to exist, and if they were to cease, no one could hold them back after Him. Indeed, He is the Most Forbearing, the Most Forgiving." This is the beginning of a reminder of Allah, the Exalted, and evidence of His Oneness and His attributes that divinity cannot be without. And "the unseen" is what is hidden from humanity. And "what is in the breasts" refers to what is in them of beliefs and meanings. This includes the saying of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him: "the one with the belly of an outsider," and the saying of the Arabs: "the wolf is envious of the one with the belly," meaning of the blowing that is in it, so whoever sees it thinks it is well-fed and recently fed. And "successors" is the plural of "successor," like "ship" and "ships," and "city" and "cities." And His saying, the Exalted: "upon him is his disbelief" contains an omitted addition, the meaning of which is: upon him is the consequence of his disbelief and its harm. And "hatred" is to despise a person because of his disobedience, or to dislike him for the religion that he follows. If the contempt is unjust from you, it is not called hatred. And "loss" is a noun derived from "lost," meaning: they have lost their Hereafter and their return by becoming destined for the Fire and punishment. And His saying, the Exalted: "Say, 'Have you considered your partners?'" is an argument against the disbelievers regarding the invalidity of their idols. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded by his Lord to confront them with their claim that it is true. Then he confronted them - with the clarity of their inability to create anything - regarding the heavens, asking them if they have any partnership in it. It is also evident after this. Then he confronted them, asking if they have a Book from Allah, the Exalted, that clarifies for them what they have said. Meaning: all of this is not with them. Then he struck after this the determined denial, saying: they only promise themselves delusion.

"Have you seen" is considered by Sibawayh to be equivalent to "Inform me," and for this reason, it does not require two objects. The partners are added to them in that they have made them partners with Allah. That is, the idols have no partnership whatsoever except by your saying. Therefore, it is necessary to attribute them to you. And "you call upon" means "you worship." The "vision" in His saying, ﴿ 'Show me'﴾ is a vision of sight. And "shirk" is partnership, which is also a source. Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, al-Kisai, and Abu Bakr from 'Asim read [clear signs] in the plural. Ibn Kathir, Abu 'Amr, Hamzah, al-Amash, Ibn Wathab, and Nafi' - with a difference from him - read "a clear sign" in the singular, and what is meant by it is the plural. It is possible that the singular is intended. As you say: I am in this matter on a clear basis, or on a manifest one. And the "deception" that they engaged in is their saying: the idols bring us closer to Allah, and similar things that anger them.

And when Allah, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned what clarifies the corruption of the matter of the idols, and established the proof of their invalidity, He followed that by mentioning His greatness and power, so that the matter becomes clear by its opposite, and the insignificance of the idols is confirmed by mentioning Allah, glorified and exalted is He. He informed about His holding the heavens and the earth by His power, and His saying: ﴿that they should cease﴾ means: the dislike of them ceasing, and that they should not cease. The meaning of ceasing here is the moving from their place and the falling from their height. Some of the interpreters said: it means that they should cease from revolving. It appears from the saying of Ibn Mas'ud that the heavens do not revolve, but rather the stars move in them. This is because al-Tabari reported that Junadab al-Bajali traveled to Ka'b al-Ahbar and then returned. Ibn Mas'ud said to him: relate to us what he informed you. He said: he informed me that the heavens are in a pivot like the pivot of a millstone, and it is a column on the shoulder of an angel. Ibn Mas'ud said to him: I wish you had redeemed your journey with something like your mount and your travel, as Judaism had almost taken hold of the heart of a servant and was about to leave him. Then he said: ﴿Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth from ceasing﴾ and it is enough for it to cease that it should revolve. If it revolved, it would have ceased. And His saying: ﴿And if they should cease﴾ was said to refer to the Day of Resurrection at the folding of the heavens and the scattering of the mountains. It is as if He said: and if the time of their ceasing comes. It was said: rather this is in the context of supposition and hypothesis, and if we assume their ceasing, it is as if He said: and if they were to cease. Some of them said: "if" in this context means "if," and this is close to what preceded it. Ibn Abi 'Abla read: "And if they were to cease." And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿ 'after that'﴾ has an omitted addition, the estimation of which is: after leaving the holding. And a group said: His attributing to Himself forbearance and forgiveness in this verse is an indication that the heavens were about to cease and the earth likewise due to the associating of the disbelievers, so Allah holds them in forbearance from the polytheists, and waits to forgive those among them who believe, as He said: ﴿The heavens almost rupture﴾ [ash-Shura: 5] the verse.