His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿And judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires. And beware of them, lest they entice you away from some of what Allah has revealed to you. And if they turn away, then know that Allah intends to afflict them with some of their sins. And indeed, many of the people are defiantly disobedient.﴾ ﴿Then do they seek the judgment of [the days of] ignorance? And who is better than Allah in judgment for a people who are certain?﴾ "And judge"; is connected to "the Book"; in His saying: ﴿And We revealed to you the Book﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 48]; and Makkī said: it is connected to "with truth"; in His saying: ﴿And We revealed to you the Book with truth﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 48]; and both readings are good; and it can be read with a dammah on the ن in "Anu hukm"; in consideration of the dammah in the root of the present tense verb; and it can be read with a kasrah according to the rule of meeting two silent letters. This verse abrogates, according to some, the option mentioned in His saying: ﴿Or turn away from them﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 42]; and it has been previously mentioned; then He forbade him - glorified and exalted is He - from following the desires of the Children of Israel; as they are misleading; and desire, in most cases, comes from something that has no good in it; and it may sometimes come constrained by what has good; from that is the saying of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab regarding the story of his opinion and the opinion of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with them - regarding the captives of Badr: "So the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - preferred the opinion of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him"; and from it is the saying of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz - and it was said to him: What is the most delightful thing for you? - he said: "A truth that agrees with a desire"; and "desire" is singular; and its form is "fa'al"; and it is pluralized as "ahwā"; and "the desire" is elongated; and it is pluralized as "ahwiyah". Then He warned - blessed and exalted is He - from their side that they may entice him; meaning: divert him by their trials; and their tests; from something of what Allah has revealed to him - blessings and peace be upon him - of the rulings; because they wanted to deceive the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -; so they repeatedly said to him: Judge for us in such and such a matter, we will follow you in your religion. And His saying - exalted is He: ﴿And if they turn away﴾; there is an omitted part of the speech before it; which is indicated by the apparent meaning; its estimation is: "Do not follow; and beware; if they judge you with that and they remain steadfast, then that is good; and if they turn away, then know..."; and it is good to estimate this omitted equivalent after His saying: "defiantly disobedient."

And His saying, exalted is He: "So know"; this verse is a promise to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - regarding them. And He fulfilled it with the story of the Banu Qaynuqa; and the story of the Qurayza; and the Nadir; and the expulsion of Umar from the people of Khaybar; and Fadak; and others. And He, exalted is He, specified their affliction with some of the sins, not all of them. This is because this warning is only in this world. And their sins in it are of two types: one type that is specific to them, such as drinking alcohol; and their usury; and their bribery; and similar to that. And a type that extends to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and the believers, such as their dealings with the disbelievers; and their words regarding the religion. This type is what leads them to the path; and by it, they perished; and by it, Allah threatened them in this world. Therefore, He specified some, not all; and they will be punished with all of it in the Hereafter.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And indeed, many of the people are defiantly disobedient"; this is a reference to them. However, the expression encompasses them and others, so that others who are upon disobedience; and hypocrisy; and turning away from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - may realize that they are under the warning.

And the readers differed regarding His saying, exalted is He: "Do they seek the judgment of ignorance?" The majority read it with the 'm' in the accusative, indicating the action of a verb that follows the 'alif' of interrogation. This is clarified by the apparent meaning afterward.

And Yahya ibn Wathab; and Al-Sulami; and Abu Raja; and Al-A'raj read: "Do they seek the judgment?" with the 'm' in the nominative. Ibn Mujahid said: This is an error. Abu Al-Fath said: It is not so; rather it is a less strong alternative. And it has come in poetry; Abu Al-Najm said:

The mother of choices has claimed against me ∗∗∗ A sin of which I have done none.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And thus is the narration; and by it the correct meaning is completed; because he intended to disavow all sin; and if he had stated "every"; it would have been apparent from his saying that he committed some of it; and this is the omission of the pronoun from the news; and it is ugly; the estimation is: "they seek it"; and "I did not do it"; and the pronoun is often omitted from the relative clause, as in His saying: ﴿Is this what Allah has sent as a Messenger?﴾ [Al-Furqan: 41]; and as you say: "I passed by the one you honored"; and less than that is omitted from the description; and its omission from the news is ugly; as mentioned in the verse of Abu al-Najm; and his verse can be interpreted in two ways: one of them is that there is no interrogative ألف (alif) at the beginning of his saying that requests the action; as it is in His saying: "Is it a judgment"; and the second is that in the verse there is a substitute for the omitted هاء (ha); and that is the particle of generalization; I mean the ياء (ya) in "do it"; so the reading of the one who read: "Is it a judgment"; with the رفع (raf') is weak; because the action after it has no pronoun in it; nor a substitute for the pronoun; and the interrogative ألف - which requests the action; and it is preferred with the نصب (nasb); and if it is pronounced with the pronoun - it is present; and rather the reading is directed to be that the estimation is: "Is the judgment of ignorance a judgment they seek?"; so do not make "they seek"; a news; but make it a description of a hidden news; and a described one; and its counterpart is His saying: ﴿From those who have become Jews, they distort the words﴾ [An-Nisa: 46]; its estimation is: a people who distort; so he omitted the described; and established the description in its place; and similar to it is the saying of the poet:

And what is time but two instances, of which one ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ I die and the other I strive for life.

And Sulayman ibn Mahran read: "Is it a judgment"; with the opening of the حاء (ha); and كاف (kaf); and ميم (mim); and it is a name of a genus; and the addition of the name of the genus is permissible as in their saying: "I was denied Iraq its قفيز (qafiz) and درهم (dirham); and مصر (Misr) its أردب (ardab)"; and it has parallels.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It is as if he said: "Is it the judges of ignorance they seek?"; referring to the soothsayers who used to take gifts; and judge according to them; and according to desires; then this reading returns in meaning to the first; because the estimation is: "Is it the judgment of the judges of ignorance?"; and Ibn Amer read: "You seek"; with the تاء (ta); addressing them; that is: "Say to them"; and the remaining seven: "they seek"; with the ياء (ya) from below; and "they seek" means: they request; and they want.

And His saying: ﴿And who is better in judgment than Allah?﴾; is a confirmation: that is: no one is better than Him in judgment - blessed and exalted is He -; and the entry of اللام (lam) in His saying: "for a people"; is good; in terms of meaning: "that becomes clear and evident for a people who are certain."