His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿So he turned to their idols and said, 'Will you not eat?'﴾ ﴿What is [the matter] with you that you do not speak?﴾ ﴿So he turned upon them a blow with his right hand.﴾ ﴿Then they came toward him, hastening.﴾ ﴿He said, 'Do you worship that which you [yourselves] carve?﴾ ﴿And Allah has created you and that which you do.'﴾ ﴿They said, 'Construct for him a furnace and throw him into the burning fire.'﴾ ﴿So they intended for him a plan, but We made them the most debased.﴾

The meaning of "turned" is: inclined. From this is the saying of 'Adi ibn Zayd:

Where the turning is of no benefit, nor does it help except the true friend.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Will you not eat?﴾ is in the context of mocking the worshippers of those idols. It has been narrated that it was the custom of those people to leave food in the houses of the idols, believing that they would receive a scent from it. This is among the false beliefs. Then the servants of the house would eat it. When Ibrahim (blessings and peace be upon him) entered, he stood by the food, speaking and addressing the idols, intending to mock their worshippers. Then he inclined at that point to strike those idols with an axe until he made them into pieces.

There is a difference of opinion regarding the meaning of his saying: ﴿with his right hand﴾. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: with his two hands. It was said: he meant with his strength; because he would gather his hands with the axe. It was said: he meant the right of the oath in his saying: ﴿And by Allah, I will surely plan against your idols﴾ [Al-Anbiya: 57]. And "a blow" is an accusative noun on the source from an implied verb of its wording. In the Mushaf of Abdullah, it is: [a slap with the right hand].

The pronoun in his saying: (they came) refers to the disbelievers of his people. The majority read: ﴿they came hastening﴾ with a fatha on the ya, from: zafa if he hurried, and the camels hastened if they hurried. From this is the saying of Al-Farazdaq:

So the one who is swift came before the one who is slow, And the one who is swift came behind him while she was hastening.

And from this is the saying of Al-Hudhali:

And the swift came from the cold of the evening as The ostrich hastened to its resting place.

Hamzah alone read: "they are hastening" with a damma on the ya, from: azafa if he entered into hastening. This is not with a hamzah of transitivity. This is one opinion. Abu Ali said: its meaning is: they carry others into hastening, and he narrated it from Al-Asma'i. This is the reading of Mujahid, Ibn Wathab, and Al-Amash. Mujahid and Abdullah ibn Zayd read: "they are hastening" with a fatha on the ya and lightening of the fa from: zafa yazifu, which is an unknown language. Al-Kisai and Al-Farra said: we do not know it with the meaning of: zafa. Mujahid said: the wazif is: the flowing.

A group went to say that "they are hastening" means: they are taking their time in their walking like the procession of a bride. The meaning is that they were at peace from anyone harming their idols due to their honor, so they were therefore taking their time. And to hasten is the known meaning.

Then indeed, Ibrahim, peace be upon him, said to them in a lengthy discussion that is included in the verse: ﴿Do you worship what you carve?﴾ That is, you make a glorified god out of something you have made from wood or stone, and you have worked on it with your hands? He informed them of a news that they could not deny, which is his saying: ﴿And Allah created you﴾. The interpreters have differed in his saying: ﴿And what you do﴾. A group of the commentators holds that "what" is a verbal noun, and the meaning is: and your deeds. This verse, according to them, is a principle regarding the creation of the actions of the servants, and this is in agreement with the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah in this matter. Another group said: it means that which. A third group said: "what" is an interrogative. A fourth group said: it is a negation, meaning: and you do not do anything at the time of your creation or before it, nor can you do anything. The Mu'tazilah are compelled to abandon making "what" a verbal noun.

And "the building" was said to be in the place of igniting the fire, and it was said: rather it was for the catapult from which he was thrown. The story of the fire of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, has already been mentioned, and Allah made them the lowest because they were defeated and humiliated, and punishments befell them.