His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And it is the same for them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe." "You only warn those who follow the Reminder and fear the Most Merciful in the unseen. So give him good tidings of forgiveness and a noble reward." "Indeed, We give life to the dead and record what they have sent before and their traces, and everything We have enumerated in a Clear Record." This is an address to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, containing consolation for him regarding them. That is, it has been decreed upon them to disbelieve, so it is the same whether you warn them or do not warn them. The 'alif' in His saying, "Have you warned them?" is the 'alif' of equivalence; for it is not an inquiry, rather the one who understands and the one being understood are equal in knowledge of that. The majority read: "Have you warned them?" with elongation, while Ibn Muhaisin and Al-Zuhri read: "You have warned them?" with one hamzah as a statement. "And it is the same" is a nominative by way of beginning. His saying: "Or have you not warned them?" is a sentence of two equal actions that are estimated as one action which is the news of the beginning, as if he said: "And it is the same for them all your actions." He explained this all by saying: "Have you warned them or have you not warned them?" An example of this is your saying: "It is the same for me whether you stand or sit." Thus Abu Ali mentioned in the verification of the news, and the news is the beginning. His saying: "You only warn" is not in the sense of restriction by 'only', but rather in the sense of specifying who will benefit from the warning. "Following the Reminder" is acting upon what is in the Book of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and adhering to it. Qatadah said: The Reminder is the Qur'an. His saying: "In the unseen" means in solitude when a person is absent from the eyes of people. Then he said: "So give him good tidings" and he used the singular pronoun in consideration of the word "who." "The noble reward" is everything that the hired worker receives accompanied by praise for the good deed and honor, and likewise it is Paradise for the believers. Then He informed, exalted is He, of His giving life to the dead in response to the disbelievers. Then He warned them by mentioning the recording of traces and the enumeration of everything. Everything that a person does is included in what he has sent before and enters into his traces. However, He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned the matter from both aspects, to alert to the traces that remain and are mentioned after a person, whether good or evil. Otherwise, all of that is included in what the son of Adam has sent before. Qatadah said: "What they have sent before" means: of deeds, and this was said by Ibn Zayd and Mujahid. And it may remain for a person to be followed after him, so he is rewarded or punished. An analogous verse to this is: "A soul will [fully] know what it has brought [before it] and kept back." And a group read: "And their traces" in the accusative, while Masruq read it in the nominative.

Ibn Abbas, Jabir ibn Abdullah, and Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: This verse was revealed concerning Banu Salimah when they wanted to move to the side of the mosque. We have explained that at the beginning of the surah. And Thabit al-Bunani said: I walked with Anas ibn Malik to the prayer, and I hurried, so he held me back. When the prayer was over, he said to me: I walked with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to the prayer, and I hurried, so he held me back. When the prayer was over, he said: 'Did you not know that the footprints are recorded?' This is an argument based on the verse. Mujahid, Qatadah, and al-Hasan said: The footprints in this verse refer to the steps. Al-Thalabi narrated from Anas that he said: The steps are towards the Friday prayer. And His saying: 'And every' is in the accusative case due to an implied verb indicated by 'We have recorded it,' as if he said: And we have recorded everything we have recorded. And 'the Imam' is the book that is followed, which is a proof. Mujahid, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd said: He meant the preserved tablet. And a group said: He meant the records of deeds.