His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Messengers bringing good tidings and warning, so that there will be no excuse for the people against Allah after the messengers. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.﴾

﴿But Allah bears witness to what He has sent down to you. He has sent it down with His knowledge, and the angels bear witness. And sufficient is Allah as a Witness.﴾

﴿Indeed, those who disbelieved and hindered [others] from the way of Allah have certainly gone far astray.﴾

﴿Indeed, those who disbelieved and wronged themselves, Allah would not forgive them nor would He guide them to a path.﴾

﴿Except the path of Hell, wherein they will abide eternally. And that for Allah is easy.﴾

"Messengers"; is a substitute for the first [part]; and "bringing good tidings and warning"; are two states; meaning: they bring good tidings of Paradise to those who believe and obey; and they warn of the Fire those who disbelieve and disobey. And Allah, exalted is He, intended to cut off the excuse of those who say: 'If a messenger were sent to me, I would have believed.' And Allah, exalted is He, is Exalted in Might; nothing overcomes Him; and there is no excuse for anyone against Him; and He - despite that - is Wise; His actions stem from wisdom; thus He cut off the excuse with the messengers as a wisdom from Him, exalted is He.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿But Allah bears witness﴾; the reason for this verse is the saying of the Jews: ﴿Allah has not sent down anything upon a human being.﴾ [Al-An'am: 91]; and some of them said to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -: 'We do not know, O Muhammad, that Allah has sent to you; nor that He has sent down anything upon you.' And Abu Abdur-Rahman Al-Sulami and Al-Jarrah Al-Hakami read: "But Allah bears witness"; with a strong noon; and the written form is in the name of "But Allah."

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿He has sent it down with His knowledge﴾; this verse is one of the strongest proofs of the people of the Sunnah in affirming the knowledge of Allah, exalted is He; contrary to the Mu'tazilah who say: 'Knowledge without knowledge'; and the meaning - according to the people of the Sunnah - is: He sent it down while knowing its sending down; and the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah regarding this verse is that He sent it down in conjunction with His knowledge; meaning: in it is His knowledge of the unseen and commands and the like; thus knowledge is a term for the information contained in the Qur'an; as it is in the saying of Al-Khidr: "My knowledge and your knowledge do not diminish from the knowledge of Allah except what this sparrow diminishes from this sea"; meaning: from the knowledge of Allah that He has disseminated among His servants; and the majority read: "He has sent down"; in the active form; and Al-Hasan read: "It was sent down"; with a dammah on the hamzah; in the passive form.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And the angels bear witness﴾; is a strengthening of the matter of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -; and a refutation against the Jews; Qatadah said: "Witnesses, by Allah, are not suspect." And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And sufficient is Allah as a Witness﴾; its meaning is: And Allah is sufficient as a Witness; but the letter 'ba' entered to indicate that the intended meaning is: be satisfied with Allah.

Then He informed, exalted is He, about the disbelievers who hinder the people from the way of Allah, that they have gone far astray from the truth; and they have gone astray in a great error; from which their return is not near; nor can they escape from it; and Ikrimah and Ibn Hurmuz read: "And they hindered"; with a dammah on the 'sad'.

Then Allah, the Most High, informed about the disbelievers who are wrongdoers in that they placed something in its wrong place; and that is disbelief in Allah. And Allah, the Most High, deserves from them more than that, due to His apparent and hidden blessings. Indeed, they are in a position where He would not forgive them. And this statement is stronger than the mere report that He does not forgive. An example of this is that if you say: "I do not sell this thing," it is understood that you are pleased with it. But if you say: "I would not sell this thing," then your pleasure is more evident. This is the meaning of this statement.

And His saying, the Most High: "And He does not guide them to a path" except the path of Hell; this is the guidance of paths, and it is not the guidance of direction in general. And the rest of the verse is clear; it includes the belittling of the matter of the disbelievers, and that Allah does not care about them at all. As it has been reported in the hadith: "The righteous will go, the first and the first, until only a scum remains like the scum of dates; Allah does not care about them at all." The meaning is that they are disbelievers at the end of time; and upon them the Hour will be established.