His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And We have certainly destroyed what is around you of the cities and We have diversified the signs so perhaps they will return." "So why did those who took [for worship] idols other than Allah not aid them? Rather, they had strayed from them. And that is their falsehood and what they were inventing." "And when We directed to you a group of the jinn listening to the Qur'an, and when they attended it, they said, 'Listen attentively.' But when it was concluded, they went back to their people as warners."

His saying, the Most High: "And We have certainly destroyed what is around you of the cities" is an address to Quraysh in the manner of an example for them, like the cities of Ma'rib, Sodom, and the people of Thamud. And His saying, the Most High: "And We have diversified the signs" means for these destroyed cities. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "So why did those who took" means why did their idols which they took not aid them? And "idols" may either be the second object of "took" and "for worship" is a substitute for it, or it may be an adverbial phrase. And "for worship" is the second object, and the first object is the pronoun referring back to: "those who took," and the implied meaning is: they took them. And His saying, the Most High: "Rather, they had strayed from them" means they were lost to them so that they did not find them at the time of need.

And His saying, the Most High: "And that is" refers differently depending on the variations in recitation of His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "their falsehood." The majority read it with the hamzah broken and the fa silent and the kaf with a dammah, so the reference of "that" - according to this recitation - is to their saying about the idols: indeed, they are gods, and that is their taking them as gods. Likewise, the reference is in the reading of those who read: "their falsehood" with the hamzah opened, which is a language for falsehood, and both mean lying. Likewise, the reference is in the reading of those who read: "their falsehood" with the hamzah opened, the fa, and the kaf in the past tense, meaning: He turned them away, and this is the reading of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, and Abu Iyad, and Ikrimah, and Hanzalah ibn al-Nu'man. And Abu Iyad also read, and Ikrimah - as reported by al-Thalabi -: "He turned them away" with the fa doubled and the hamzah opened and the kaf, and this is based on the transitive action of the verb with emphasis. And Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr read: "He turned them away" with a prolonged hamzah, and the fa and the kaf opened based on the transitive action with the hamzah. Al-Zajjaj said: He made them turn away, as it is said: I make them turn away. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, as narrated by Qutrub, read: "He turned them away" with an opened prolonged hamzah and a broken fa, and a rounded kaf in the form of a doer, meaning: He turned them away. Al-Farra' reported that he reads: "He turned them away" with the hamzah and fa opened and the kaf with a dammah, which is a language for "falsehood," and the reference of "that" in these readings is not a source that could be assumed to refer to the idols. And His saying, the Most High: "And what they were inventing" and it is possible that "what" is a nominal particle that does not need a pronoun, and it is possible that it means "that which" so there is an omitted pronoun whose implied meaning is: they were inventing it.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And when We turned to you a group from the jinn﴾ is the beginning of the story of the jinn and their coming to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And 'We turned' means: We redirected them from a certain state. It is possible that this refers to listening in the heavens, and it is possible that it refers to their disbelief before their coming, and this is according to the difference here, whether they are the delegation or the spies. It has been narrated that the jinn used to eavesdrop from the heavens before the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was sent. When the Prophet was sent, they were guarded by the shooting stars, and the jinn were greatly troubled by that. The opinion of their leaders was to disperse across the corners of the earth and seek the reason for this stoning and the prevention from eavesdropping, so they did that.

Then the narrators differed. One group said: "A group of the jinn came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, while he was unaware, and they heard the Qur'an. They returned to their people as warners, and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, did not know anything about that until Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informed him of all of that. Their hearing was of his recitation while he was at a palm tree near the market of 'Ukaz, and he was reciting in the Fajr prayer." Another group said: Rather, Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informed him of the coming of the jinn to him, and he prepared for that, and the people of Nasibin from them came to him.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The clarification in this is that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was approached by jinn without him knowing them, and they were the ones who scattered due to the stoning. This is His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Say, 'It has been revealed to me'﴾ [Al-Jinn: 1], then after that a delegation came to him, which is the one mentioned in this verse. Qatadah said: They came to him from Nineveh, and I know of it before their arrival. Al-Hasan said: He did not know of it. There was a difference in their number, a distant difference, so I have summarized it due to the lack of authenticity in that. As for Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: They were seven men from the people of Nasibin. And Zirr said: They were nine, among them was a whirlwind. It has been narrated in this regard from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I am going out to the delegation of the jinn, so whoever wishes may follow me." His companions were silent, so he said it a second time, and they were silent. Abdullah said: I will follow you. He said: So I went out with him until we reached the valley of Al-Hujun. He made a circle for me and said: "Do not leave it." Then he went away from me, and I heard a commotion and a noise like the noise of the breaking eagles. Then at the end of the night, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, came back after he had recited to them the Qur'an and taught them, and he gave them provisions in every bone and dung. He said: "O Abdullah, what did you see?" I informed him, and he said: "I was afraid that you would go out and some of them would snatch you away." I said: O Messenger of Allah, I heard them making noise. He said: "They were disputing over a slain one of theirs, and I judged with the truth between them."

The narrations from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, are conflicting. It has been narrated from him what we have mentioned. It has been narrated from him that he saw men from the jinn who resembled tall black men when he saw them in Kufa. It has also been narrated from him that he said: None of us witnessed the Night of the Jinn with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. Therefore, these narrations are summarized and their length is reduced due to their lack of authenticity.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿A group of jinn﴾ implies that those referred to are men, with no females among them. For a group, a band, and a people are those who have no females among them. And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿When they arrived, they said, 'Be silent'﴾ contains etiquette with knowledge and teaches how to learn. The majority of people read: 'It was decreed' in the passive voice for the object. Habib ibn Abdullah ibn al-Zubair and Abu Majliz read it in the active voice, meaning: Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, completed the recitation. Ibn Umar and Jabir ibn Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with them, said: 'He recited to them Surah Ar-Rahman, the Mighty and Majestic. When he said: 'So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?' they said: 'We do not deny any of Your favors, our Lord. To You be all praise.' And when this sentence was concluded, it spread across the lands as a warning to the jinn. Qatadah said: How quickly the people understood.

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

There the story of Sawad, Shisar, and Khanafar and their like occurred, blessings and peace be upon Muhammad, His servant and Messenger.