'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And they swore by Allah with the utmost of their oaths that if a warner came to them, they would surely be more guided than any of the nations. But when a warner came to them, it increased them only in aversion﴾ ﴿In arrogance in the land and in plotting evil; and the evil plot does not encompass except its people. So do they await except the way of the former peoples? You will never find for the way of Allah any change, and you will never find for the way of Allah any alteration.﴾ The pronoun in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And they swore﴾ refers to the disbelievers of Quraysh. Before Islam, they would take the Jews and Christians to task for denying one another, and they would say, 'If a messenger came to us, we would be more guided than these people.' And ﴿the utmost of their oaths﴾ is accusative as a source, meaning: with the utmost of their effort. And ﴿any of the nations﴾ refers to the Jews and Christians. And 'aversion' means distance from something, fear of it, and abhorrence of it. And 'arrogance' is said to be an alternative to 'aversion,' and it is said to be an action for which they were averse, meaning: they fled due to arrogance. And He added 'the plotting' to 'evil,' which is an adjective, just as it is said: 'the abode of the Hereafter, the mosque of the congregation, and the western side.' The majority read with a broken hamzah from ﴿the evil﴾, while Hamzah alone made it silent, and it is in the second with the hamzah raised like 'the group.' And this reading was criticized by Al-Zajjaj, and Abu Ali Al-Farisi directed it in several ways, one of which is that it could be made silent due to the succession of movements, as he said: 'I said to my companion, stand.' (p-229) Al-Mubarrid narrated this: 'I said to my companion, stand.' And as Al-Mu'allaq said: ؎ So today I drink without being deserving ∗∗∗ a sin from Allah and not a thief. Al-Mubarrid has narrated: 'So today drink.' And as Jarir said: ؎ Travel, O sons of my uncle, for Al-Ahwaz is your abode ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ and the river of Tigris will not recognize you, O Arabs. Ibn Mas'ud read: 'And plotting evil,' Abu Al-Fath said: it is supported by the indefiniteness of what preceded it from His saying: 'arrogance.' And 'encompasses' means: surrounds, descends, and occurs, and it is not used except in the disliked. And His saying: ﴿except its people﴾ means that it must encompass them either in this world or in the Hereafter, so its corrupt consequence is for them. And if it sometimes encompasses others in this world, the consequence of that is upon its people. And Ka'b Al-Ahbar said to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: 'Indeed, in the Torah: 'Whoever digs a pit for his brother will fall into it.' (p-230) Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'I find this in the Book of Allah, ﴿And the evil plot does not encompass except its people.﴾ And 'they await' means: they are waiting. And 'the way' means: the path and the custom. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿You will never find for the way of Allah any change, and you will never find for the way of Allah any alteration.﴾ means: for His punishment of the disbelieving deniers, and in this is a clear threat.