His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

"For them above them are canopies of fire, and beneath them are canopies. That is what Allah frightens His servants with. O My servants, so fear Me."

"And those who avoided [worship of] the Taghut and turned to Allah, for them is good tidings. So give good tidings to My servants."

"Those who listen to speech and follow the best of it. It is they whom Allah has guided, and it is they who are people of understanding."

This is a description of the state of the people of Hellfire. The "canopy" is that which covers and envelops, like a cloud or the roof of a house, and so on. As for what is above them, it is evident that it is a canopy. As for what is beneath them, a group said: It is called a canopy because it blazes and something intense rises from beneath them to the extent that it becomes a canopy. If there were nothing above them, the fire beneath them would suffice to be a canopy. Another group said: He made what is beneath them a canopy because it is above others. And this is their state except for the last layer that is in the bottom.

And His saying: "My servants" means all of mankind. Allah frightens them with the Fire and warns them from it. Whoever is guided and believes will be saved, and whoever disbelieves will face what he was warned of. The reading of His saying: "O My servants" has differed, and its similar has preceded.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And those who avoided the Taghut"—the verse. Ibn Zayd said: The reason for its revelation was Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufail, Salman the Persian, and Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, and it refers to them. Ibn Ishaq said: It refers to Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Sa'id ibn Zayd, and Al-Zubair, may Allah be pleased with them. This is because when Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, embraced Islam, they heard that and came to him, asking: Have you embraced Islam? He said: Yes, and reminded them of Allah, and they all believed. Thus this verse was revealed concerning them, and it is, in any case, general for people until the Day of Resurrection, encompassing them in its ruling. The "Taghut" is everything that is worshipped besides Allah, exalted and glorified is He, and "Taghut" also refers to the devil, and this is how it was explained here by Mujahid, Al-Suddi, and Ibn Zayd. It was placed here upon a group of devils, and for that reason, the pronoun in "they worship it" is feminine.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Those who listen to speech and follow the best of it" is a general statement about all sayings. The intent is to praise these people for their insights, which are for them and a foundation in their view, to the extent that when they hear a saying, they distinguish it and follow the best of it. The interpreters have differed in expressing this. A group said: The best saying is the Book of Allah, exalted and glorified is He, meaning that when they hear sayings and hear the Qur'an, they follow the Qur'an. Another group said: "The saying" is the Qur'an, and the best of it is what contains forgiveness, pardon, and patience, and so on. Qatadah said: The best saying is the obedience to Allah, exalted and glorified is He. These are examples, and what we mentioned first encompasses them.