His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Indeed, those who disbelieved will be called out: 'The hatred of Allah is greater than your hatred of yourselves when you are called to faith and you disbelieve.'" They will say: 'Our Lord, You have caused us to die twice and You have given us life twice. So we confess our sins. Is there any way to get out?'" "That is because when Allah alone is called upon, you disbelieve, but if partners are associated with Him, you believe. The judgment belongs to Allah, the Most High, the Most Great."

Allah, the Exalted, informed about the state of the disbelievers, and He made this after the state of the believers to clarify the difference. It has been narrated that this state will be for the disbelievers when they enter the Fire; for when they are admitted into it, they will hate themselves, meaning: some of them will hate each other, and it is possible that each one will hate himself. The expression can carry both meanings. And "hatred" is contempt and loathing due to sin and suspicion; this is its limit. When the disbelievers hate themselves, the angels of punishment will call out to them - in a manner of reproach - saying to them: 'The hatred of Allah for you in this world - when you were called to faith and you disbelieved - is greater than your hatred of yourselves today.' This is the meaning of the verse, and this was explained by Mujahid, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd.

And the Exalted added the source to the doer in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "The hatred of Allah." The object is omitted because the saying necessitates it. The "lam" in His saying, exalted is He: "[The hatred]" may be the lam of beginning or the lam of swearing, and the latter is more correct. And [greater] is the news of the beginning. The doer of [when] is an implied verb, which can be estimated as: 'He hated you when,' and some estimated it as: 'Remember when,' and that is weak as it disrupts the connection of the speech, unless it is estimated that the hatred of Allah for them is in the Hereafter, and that it is greater than their hatred of themselves, so it is correct to estimate the implied as: 'Remember,' and it is not permissible for His saying, exalted is He: 'The hatred' to act in it because the news of the beginning has intervened between 'the hatred' and 'when,' as it is in its connection, and that is not permissible.

The interpreters differed in the meaning of their saying: "Our Lord, You have caused us to die twice and You have given us life twice." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Qatadah, Al-Dahhak, and Abu Malik said: They meant by their death being in the loins (p-426) [of their fathers], then their being brought to life in this world, then their known death, then their being brought to life on the Day of Resurrection. They said it is like that which is in Surah Al-Baqarah: "How can you disbelieve in Allah while you were dead and He brought you to life, then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you to life?" [Al-Baqarah: 28]. Ibn Zayd said: They meant that He brought them to life as souls when He took the covenant from them at the time He took them from the loins of Adam, peace be upon him, then He caused them to die after that, then He brought them to life in this world, then He caused them to die, then He brought them to life.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a weak statement because the bringing to life in it is three times.

And Al-Suddi said: They meant that He brought them to life in this world, then He caused them to die, then He brought them to life in the graves at the time of questioning by Munkar and Nakir, then He caused them to die in it, then He brought them to life at the gathering. And this also has the objection that is in the previous statement, and the first is the most established of the statements.

Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi said: They intended that the disbeliever in this world is the living body but the dead heart. So, it is as if their state in this world combined life and death. Then, He truly caused them to die, then He brought them to life by resurrection.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The disagreement regarding this verse is all stated in the verse of Surah al-Baqarah. This verse appears to have a meaning that is disconnected from the meaning of His saying, the Most High: ﴿When you are called to faith, you disbelieve﴾. But the matter is not as such; rather, the two verses are connected in meaning. This is because their disbelief in this world was also by denying resurrection and their belief that there is no gathering or punishment. Their hatred of themselves was only magnified because this belief of theirs was false. So, when their hatred of themselves became established and they saw a long and wide disgrace, they returned to the meaning by which their disbelief was, which is resurrection. Existence emerged accompanied by their punishment. So, they acknowledged it in the most complete manner, meaning: We had disbelieved by denying resurrection, and today we acknowledge that You have brought us to life twice and caused us to die twice. It is as if they intended to magnify His power, glorified and exalted is He, and to seek His pleasure by that. Then they said after this acknowledgment, out of their desire: Here we are, confessing our sins, so is there a way out? This is like when you compel a person to acknowledge a truth while he denies it. When he sees dominance and is overwhelmed, he acknowledges that matter more completely than what you were initially asking of him. And in what follows their saying: ﴿So is there a way out?﴾ there is something omitted from the speech that is indicated by the apparent meaning. Its estimation is: There is no assistance for your requests, or something like this from the response and rebuke.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿That is because﴾ may indicate their hatred of themselves, and it may indicate the punishment they are in, or the prevention, rebuke, and humiliation that we said is an omitted estimation indicated by the apparent meaning of the speech. It may indicate Allah's hatred of them, and it may be that the address with 'that' is to those contemporaneous with Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, in this world, and it may be in the Hereafter to the disbelievers in general. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿When Allah is called alone﴾ means: in a state of monotheism and negation of anything else from deities and rivals. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And if you associate others with Him, you would believe﴾ means: If al-Lat and al-Uzza and others were mentioned, you would affirm and your souls would settle. So, the judgment today is for your punishment and your eternal dwelling in the Fire for Allah, not for those whom you used to associate with Him in divinity. And 'the Most High, the Great' are attributes of praise, not in place and opposing lowliness and smallness.