His saying, exalted is He: ﴿If they call upon others besides Him, they call upon females, and if they call upon anyone, they call upon a rebellious devil﴾ ﴿May Allah curse him, and He said, 'I will surely take from among Your servants a portion fixed'﴾. The pronoun in ﴿'they call'﴾ refers back to those mentioned earlier among the disbelievers; in His saying: ﴿And whoever opposes the Messenger﴾ [An-Nisa: 115]; and ﴿'If'﴾ is a negation meaning (not); and ﴿'they call'﴾ is a concise expression meaning 'they worship' and 'they take deities'; and Abu Rajaa' Al-‘Utardi read: 'If you call' with a ت; Abu Malik, Al-Suddi, and others said: 'This is because the Arabs used to name their idols with feminine names, like Al-Lat, Al-Uzza, and Manat, and Naila.' Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: 'And this is countered by the fact that they were often named with masculine names as well'; and Al-Dahhak and others said: 'What is meant is what the Arabs believed regarding the femininity of the angels and their worship of them; so it was said to them this is in the context of establishing proof against their false words.' Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah said: 'What is meant are the wood and stones; they are feminine and do not possess intellect; and it is reported about them as one would report about the feminine among things; so His saying: 'except females' is an expression about inanimate objects'; and it was said: 'This is because the Arabs used to refer to an idol as a female; they would say: a female of so-and-so.' Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: 'And this, despite its differences, leads to their being mocked for femininity; and that femininity is a deficiency and lowliness compared to masculinity'; and it was said: 'The meaning of 'females' is idols'; and in the Mushaf of Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - it is: 'If they call upon others besides Him, they call upon idols'; and Ibn Abbas read in what was narrated from him by Abu Salih: 'except a female'; meaning: 'an idol'; he replaced the همزة with a واو; and it is a plural of a plural, as some people have said; as if he pluralized 'idol' to 'idols' like 'camel' and 'camels'; then he pluralized 'idols' to 'idols' like 'pledges' and 'pledges'; and like 'example' and 'examples.' Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: 'And this is an error; because 'فِعالًا' in the plural of 'فَعَلٌ' is for abundance; and the plural that is for abundance is not pluralized; rather, the plurals of reduction are pluralized; and the correct way to say is: 'idols' as the plural of 'idol' without an intermediary, like 'lions' and 'lion'; Abu Amr said: 'And with this Ibn Umar, Sa'id ibn Al-Musayyib, Muslim ibn Jundub, and 'Ata read'; and it was narrated from Ibn Abbas that he read: 'except an idol' with the opening of the واو and الثاء, as a singular name of the genus; and Ibn Abbas also read: 'idols' with the د of the واو and الثاء; and a group read: 'except an idol'; and a group read: 'except idols' with the ثاء being silent; and 'the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - read: 'except females' with the ن being advanced; and it is the plural of 'female'; like 'stream' and 'streams'; and similar to that; and Al-Tabari reported that it is the plural of 'females'; like 'fruits' and 'fruits'; and this reading was narrated from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - by Abu Amr Al-Dani; he said: 'And Ibn Abbas read it, and Abu Haywah, and Al-Hasan.'

And there was a disagreement regarding the meaning of 'the devil'; a group said: "It is the devil that is associated with every idol; so it is as if he is united by the wording; a collective by the meaning; because the singular indicates the genus." The majority said: "What is meant is Iblis." And this is the correct view; because the rest of the statement fits with it. And 'mard' means: rebellious; obstinate in his misguidance; and it is 'fa'il' from 'marada'; if he becomes rebellious; and exceeds in his deviation; and is stripped for evil; and misguidance.

And the origin of cursing is: distancing; and in common usage: it is a distancing accompanied by wrath; and anger; and it is possible that 'he cursed him' is an attribute of the devil; and it is possible that it is a report about him; and the meaning is close in both cases.

And His saying, the Exalted: 'And he said, I will surely take...' ; the verse; the implication is: "And the devil said"; and the meaning is: "I will surely extract them for my misguidance; and I will surely designate them for my misleading"; and they are the disbelievers; and the sinners.

And 'the obligatory' means in this context: the one who is inclined; and it is taken from 'fard'; which is the cutting in the stick; and others; and it is possible that he means: "It is obligatory that I take him"; and the sending of the fire is the share of Iblis.