The saying of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic:

"And when it is said to them, 'Spend from what Allah has provided for you,' those who disbelieve say to those who believe, 'Should we feed one whom, if Allah had willed, He would have fed? You are not but in clear error.'"

"And they say, 'When is this promise, if you should be among the truthful?'"

"They are not waiting except for a single blast that will seize them while they are disputing."

"So they will not be able to give any testament, nor to their people will they return."

The pronoun in His saying, "for them," refers to Quraysh. The reason for this verse is that when the disbelievers had cut off the expenses and all connections from their relatives who had embraced Islam, including their weak ones, the matter in Mecca initially had some connection at the time of the revelation of the verses of reconciliation. The believers urged their relatives from among the disbelievers to maintain ties with them and to spend on them from what Allah has provided for them. They then said at that time: "Should we feed one whom, if Allah had willed, He would have fed?" Al-Rummani said: They forgot what is necessary of compassion and the bonding of kin.

A group said: The reason for this is that Quraysh became stingy - due to a crisis - towards all the poor, both believers and others. The Prophet ﷺ urged them to spend on the poor, and they said this statement.

Their saying can be interpreted in two ways: One of them comes from the choices of the ignorant among the Arabs. It has been narrated that a Bedouin was herding his camels, and he made the fat ones in the fertile area and the lean ones in the barren place. When he was asked about this, he said: "I honor what Allah has honored and I dishonor what Allah has dishonored." Thus, the saying of Quraysh can be understood in this way, as if they saw withholding from whom Allah has withheld His provision. Among their proverbs is: "Be with Allah against the one who turns away." The second interpretation is that their words are in the sense of mocking the saying of Muhammad ﷺ: "Indeed, there is a God who is the Provider." It is as if they said: "Why does your God, whom you claim, not provide for them?" That is, "We do not feed one whom this God you claim would have fed." This is similar to a person claiming to be rich and then needing your assistance in wealth, and you say to him - in a manner of argument and mockery -: "Do you seek my assistance while you are rich?" That is, according to your claim.

His saying: "You are not but in clear error" can be understood as a statement from the disbelievers to the believers, meaning: In your command to us to spend our wealth, and in other matters of your religion. It can also be understood as a statement from Allah, the Exalted, to the disbelievers, resuming His warning to them with this.

Then He reported their saying - in a manner of confirming it against them -: "When is this promise?" meaning: When is the Day of Resurrection that you claim? It has been said that they intended: When is this punishment that you threaten us with? They referred to that as a promise because the context of the speech indicates that it is in harm, and when the promise is mentioned without qualification, it is for good. If it is qualified by a context of harm, it is used in it, and the warning is always in harm.

'And they look' means: they wait. And 'ma' is a negation. This saying is the saying of the Day of Resurrection and the first blowing of the trumpet. It was narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar and Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with them, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. In a narration, it is said that after it is the blowing of the stupor, then the blowing of the gathering, which lasts without any pause.

Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Al-A'raj, Shibl, and Ibn Qustantin the Meccan read [yakhṣimūn] with a fatḥah on the ya and kha and a shaddah on the broken ṣād. Its origin is yakh'taṣimūn. The movement of the tā' was transferred to the kha and the silent tā' was assimilated into the ṣād. Nafi', and Abu Amr also read with a fatḥah on the ya and a sukoon on the kha and a shaddah on the broken ṣād. In this reading, there is a combination of two silent letters, but it is not a complete combination. Abu Ali directed it, and its origin is: yakh'taṣimūn. The movement of the tā' was omitted without transfer and was assimilated into the ṣād. 'Asim, Al-Kisai, Ibn 'Amir, and Nafi' also read, and Al-Hasan and Abu Amr - with a difference from him - with a fatḥah on the ya and a kasrah on the kha and a shaddah on the broken ṣād. Its origin is: yakh'taṣimūn. It was justified like the previous one, then it was broken for the sake of meeting. A group read with a kasrah on the ya and kha and a shaddah on the broken ṣād like the previous one, then the kasrah of the kha was followed by the kasrah of the ya. In the Mus'haf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is 'yakh'taṣimūn'. The meaning of all these readings is that they are conversing and retracting their words among themselves and pushing each other in their affairs. Hamzah read: 'yakhṣimūn', and this can have two meanings: one of them is what is in the previous readings, meaning: some of them argue with others. The second is that they argue against the people of truth in their claim, as if he said: the cry takes them while they think of themselves that they have argued or prevailed; because you say: I argued with so-and-so and I prevailed over him, if you overcame him.

And His saying: 'So they will not be able to make any bequest' is an expression of the hastening of the situation. 'Bequest' is a noun from: waṣā. And His saying: 'And they will not return to their families' has several interpretations: one of them is: no one will return to his home and family due to the hastening of the matter, rather his soul will be seized wherever the cry takes him. The second meaning is: they will not return to their families in words, and this is more emphatic in the hastening. He specified the family in mention because the saying with them at that time is more important to a person than with strangers and is more confirmed in the souls of humans. The third interpretation is: they will never return to their families. This goes beyond the meaning of describing the hastening to the meaning of mentioning their severance and their separation from their worldly matters.

The majority read: 'yarjiʿūn' with a fatḥah on the ya and a kasrah on the jīm. Ibn Muḥaysin read with a ḍamma on the ya and a fatḥah on the jīm.