His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Allah is He who has subjected the sea for you, so that the ships may sail therein by His command, and so that you may seek of His bounty, and perhaps you will be grateful." "And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, all of it from Him. Indeed, in that are signs for a people who reflect." "Say to those who have believed, 'Forgive those who do not expect the days of Allah, so that He may recompense a people for what they used to earn.'"

This is a verse of reflection on the sailing of the ship in the sea. This is because Allah, the Exalted, has subjected this great creature to this insignificant, weak creature. His saying, the Exalted, "by His command," indicates the power and permission to command the sea and the people in that. And "seeking of the bounty of Allah": it is primarily through trade. Likewise, the purposes of righteousness, such as pilgrimage and jihad, are also seeking bounty. Fishing in it is also seeking bounty.

And "the subjugation of whatever is in the heavens": it is the subjugation of the sun, moon, stars, clouds, winds, air, and the angels assigned to all of this. It is narrated that some righteous people had a guest, and he presented to him a loaf of bread. It was as if the guest looked down upon it. The host said to him: Do not look down upon it, for it has not been turned until three hundred and sixty creatures and angels have been subjected to it, including what we mentioned of the creatures of the heavens and the angels and the artisans of the children of Adam who are responsible for the turning of the loaf. And "the subjugation of what is in the earth" is the subjugation of animals, waters, valleys, mountains, and other than that.

And the meaning of His saying, the Exalted, "all of it from Him": Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Every blessing is from Allah, the Exalted. The majority of the people read: "from Him," which is a good stopping point. Muslima ibn Muharib read: "from Him" with an open 'm' and a stressed 'n,' meaning: it is from Him. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "a favor" with a broken 'm,' an open 'n,' and the 't' in the accusative form, indicating the source. Abu Hatim said: The chain of this reading to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, is obscure. It was narrated by Abu al-Fath from Ibn Abbas, and Abdullah ibn Umar, and al-Jahdari, and Abdullah ibn Ubaid ibn Umair. Muslima ibn Muharib also read: "a favor" with a broken 'm' and the 't' in the nominative form.

And His saying, the Exalted: "Say to those who have believed," this verse was revealed at the beginning of Islam. Allah, the Exalted, commanded the believers in it to overlook the disbelievers and not to punish them for their sins, but rather to take themselves with patience, as said by Muhammad ibn Kab al-Qurazi and al-Suddi. Most people said: This verse is abrogated by the verse of fighting. A group said: The verse is definitive.

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

And the verse includes forgiveness in general. It should be said that major matters, such as killing and open disbelief and similar things, have been abrogated by His forgiveness of the verse of the sword and the jizyah, and what the Shari'ah has established, without a doubt. And trivial matters, such as harshness in speech and similar things, it is possible that they should be avoided firmly, and that forgiveness of them is closer to piety.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said when the verse was revealed: "Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan?" [Al-Baqarah: 245] Finhas the Jew said: The Lord of Muhammad is in need! Exalted is Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, above what he said. Then Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, took his sword and went to kill him, but the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, stopped him and said: Your Lord says: "Say to those who have believed to forgive" - the verse.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is an argument based on it, despite its early revelation. And it has been mentioned by Makki and others that it was revealed in Mecca during the time of Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, when he intended to strike a polytheist who insulted him. As for the certainty in His saying, Exalted is He: "forgive," it is the answer to an implied condition, and its implication is: Say, forgive! If they respond, they will forgive. And shorter than this in my view is that "Say" is like: I urge the believers to forgive.

And His saying, Exalted is He: "the Days of Allah" - a group said: Its meaning is the days of His favor, victory, and blessings in Paradise and otherwise. So "they hope" - on this - is in its context. Mujahid said: The Days of Allah, Exalted is He, are the days of His blessings and His punishment. So "they hope" - on this - is equivalent to "they fear." And they have descended to this level because hope and fear are intertwined; we do not find one without the other accompanying it. This has been explained previously multiple times.

And the majority of the reciters read "to reward" with the letter 'ya' meaning: to reward Allah. Ibn Amir, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, Al-Amash, Abu Abdur-Rahman, and Ibn Wathab read "to reward" with the letter 'noon.' Abu Ja'far ibn Al-Qaqa read - with a difference from him - "to be rewarded" in the passive form, "a people," and this is based on the implication: to reward the reward to a people. And the rest of the verse is a warning.