'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, the Exalted: ﴿So how will it be when We come from every nation with a witness and We bring you as a witness against these﴾ ﴿On that Day, those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that the earth were made equal to them, and they will not conceal from Allah a saying﴾. It has preceded in the previous verse the announcement of the realization of the judgments on the Day of Resurrection. Thus, it is appropriate - after that - to alert to the state in which that is prepared and in which the witnesses are brought against the nations. The meaning of the verse is that Allah brings the Prophets as witnesses against their nations with affirmation and denial. The meaning of 'nation' in this verse is different from the commonly understood meaning of nations in relation to the Prophets. The common understanding is that the nation of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, refers to all who believed in him. Likewise, for every Prophet, it refers here to all who were sent to him, both those who believed and those who disbelieved. The interpreters have also said that the reference to 'these' is to the disbelievers of Quraysh and others among the disbelievers. The disbelievers of Quraysh were specifically mentioned because the weight of the warning is more severe upon them than upon others. 'So how' is in the position of an accusative, with a verb implied at the end of the verse: you see their state, or they will be, or something similar. And Makki said in Al-Hidayah: 'We came' is the agent for 'So how', and that is an error. It has been narrated that 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when he recited this verse, his eyes overflowed with tears.' Likewise, his eyes overflowed with tears when Abdullah ibn Mas'ud recited it to him in the famous hadith. What Al-Tabari mentioned about the testimony of the nation of Muhammad in conveying the messages of the Messengers, and what occurred in the meaning of that from the stories that Makki mentioned, such as the questioning of the Preserved Tablet, then Israfil, then Jibril, then the Prophets, this is not his verse. Rather, his verse is: ﴿So that you may be witnesses against the people﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 143]. 'And on that Day' is an adverbial phrase, and it is correct for 'Day' to be in the accusative in this position as an adverb, on the condition that it is inflected with the non-established nouns. It is also correct for it to be in the accusative as it is constructed on the accusative with the non-established nouns, and the love is indeed on that day.

And Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir read: "Tassawwa" with the second 'ta' of "tatasawwa" being merged. Hamzah and Al-Kisai read: "Tasawwa" with the 's' being softened and the 'w' being emphasized, by omitting the mentioned second 'ta'. Both readings have the same meaning, and there is a disagreement about it. One group said: The earth will split and they will be in it, then it will become level with them and in itself. Another group said: Its meaning is that if it were to become level with them, they would be dust like their forefathers. The wording indicates that the earth is the one that is leveled with them, and the meaning is that they will be equal with the earth. In the wording, there is a reversal that aligns with the language that Sibawayh narrated: I placed the cap on my head, and I placed my mouth on the stone, and what follows this. Ibn Kathir, Ibn 'Amir, and Abu 'Amr read: "Tusawwa" in the form of a verb for the object whose doer has not been named, so Allah, the Exalted, will do that according to the two previous meanings. Abu Ali said: The inclination of the opening vowel to the kasra, and the 'alif' to the 'ya' in: "Tusawwa" is good.

A group said: The meaning of the verse is that the disbelievers, due to what they see of the terror and severity of the fears, wish that the earth would be leveled with them so that they would not experience that fear. Then the speech continues, informing that they will not conceal from Allah any saying, as their limbs will speak of all of that when some of them say: "By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists" [Al-An'am: 23]. Allah will say: You have lied. Then their limbs will speak and will not conceal any saying. This is the saying of Ibn 'Abbas, and he said about it: When Allah gathers the first and the last, some of the disbelievers will think that denial will save them, so they said: "By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists" [Al-An'am: 23]. Allah will say: You have lied. Then their limbs will speak and will not conceal any saying. Thus, Ibn 'Abbas opened up for a questioner who was confused about the matter. Another group said something similar to the first statement except that they said: The speech was resumed with His saying: "And they will not conceal from Allah any saying" to inform that concealment will not benefit, even if they conceal, because Allah, the Exalted, knows all their secrets and their sayings. The meaning of this is: And that terrifying position is not a position where concealment will be beneficial.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The difference between these two sayings is that the first implies that concealment is of no benefit in any way, while the other implies that concealment is of no benefit whether it occurs or does not occur. As you say: this is a gathering in which falsehood is not said, and you mean: it is of no benefit and is not listened to. A group said: all the speech is connected, and its meaning is: those who disbelieve wish that the earth were leveled with them, and they wish that they do not conceal any statement from Allah. Their wish for that is merely regret over their lies when they said: 'By Allah, our Lord, we were not among the polytheists' [Al-An'am: 23]. Another group said: there are places and distinctions, and another group said: the meaning of the verse is: those who disbelieve wish that the earth were leveled with them, and that they did not conceal any statement from Allah. This is in the context of regret over the lie as well, just as you say: I wished to resolve this, and it would not be so in the context of redemption, meaning: they would redeem their concealment by having the earth leveled with them.

And the Messenger - in this verse - is for the generality, honored by the mention, and it is singular indicating the plural. Abu al-Sammal and Yahya ibn Yamur read: 'And they disobeyed the Messenger' with a kasra on the waw of 'disobeyed'.