His saying - exalted and glorified is He -: "And when you call to prayer, they take it in ridicule and amusement. That is because they are a people who do not understand." "Say, O People of the Book, do you resent us except for our believing in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before us, and that most of you are disobedient?" "Say, shall I inform you of something worse than that as a reward from Allah? It is that upon whom Allah has cursed and with whom He is angry, and made of them apes and pigs, and worshippers of Taghut. Those are worse in position and further astray from the sound way." (p-201) His saying - exalted is He: "And when you call to prayer"; the verse indicates a reproach towards the Jews and clarifies their evil actions. For they would, when they heard the believers standing for prayer, say to one another: 'They have stood up; they have not stood up'; and other such words by which they mock at the time of the call to prayer and otherwise. All that has been mentioned is an example. Al-Suddi mentioned that there was a man from the Christians in Medina. When he heard the caller to prayer say: 'I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah', he would say: 'May Allah burn the liar!' He continued like this until a lamp fell in his house one night and burned him; and the Christian was burned; may Allah curse him. Then, He - exalted is He - mentioned that their actions are due to their lack of understanding. They lack it because it does not act as it should; as if it does not exist. Then, He - exalted is He - commanded His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - to say to the People of the Book: "Do you resent us?"; and its meaning is: 'Do you count against us a sin or a deficiency?' It is said: "naqama"; with a fatḥah on the qāf; "yanqimu"; with a kasrah; and this is the reading of the majority. It is also said: "naqima"; with a kasrah on the qāf; "yanqamu"; with a fatḥah; and this is the reading of Abu Haywah, Ibn Abi Ablah, Abu al-Barhasam, and al-Nakha'i. And this verse is from the eloquent and concise dialogue; and similar to it is His saying - exalted is He: "And they did not resent them except for their believing in Allah" [Al-Burooj: 8]; and a similar purpose in the exception is the saying of al-Nabighah: 'And there is no fault in them except that their swords are with the remnants of the clashes of the battalions.' And the majority read: "unzila"; with a ḍammah on the hamzah; and likewise in the second; and Abu Nahiq read: "anzala"; with a fatḥah on the hamzah and zāy in both. And His saying - exalted is He: "And that most of you are disobedient"; according to most of the interpreters, it is connected to His saying: "that we have believed"; so their being disobedient is included in what we resent against them; and this is not the intended meaning; and it has been narrated from al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan that he said regarding this: 'They resented our faith due to their disobedience.'

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This speech is correct in itself; however, it does not suffice in evaluating the meaning of the words. Rather, it is directed towards the meaning of the dialogue: "Do you only blame us for this general condition that we are believers and you are disbelievers?" And it would be: "And that most of you are disbelievers"; as stated by the one addressing them. This is like saying to someone you are disputing with: "Do you only blame me for the fact that I told the truth and you lied?" And he does not admit that he is a liar; nor does he blame that. But the meaning of your words is: "Do you blame only this entire situation?" And some of the interpreters said: His saying: "And that most of you"; is connected to "and what"; as if he said: "Except that we believed in Allah; and in His Books; and that most of you."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is a straight meaning; because the belief of the believers that the people of the Book who persist in disbelief in Muhammad are disobedient is something they blame. And Allah mentioned most of them in that there are among them those who believed and were guided.

And His saying: "Say, 'Shall I inform you'"; the majority read with a فتح on the ن and a شَدّ on the ب; and Ibn Wathab and Al-Nakha'i read: "أُنْبِئُكُمْ"; with a سُكُون on the ن and a تَخْفِيف of the ب; from "أنبأ"; and the people read: "مَثُوبَةً"; with a ضَمّ on the ث and سُكُون on the و; and Ibn Bureidah, Al-A'raj, and Nubaih, and Ibn Imran read: "مَثْوَبَةً"; with a سُكُون on the ث and a فَتْح on the و; and Abu Al-Fath said: This is something that has deviated from its origin, being strange compared to its counterparts; and similar to it is the saying of the Arabs: "The fruit is مَقْوَدَةٌ to the harm"; with a سُكُون on the ق and a فَتْح on the و; and the analogy is: "مَثابَةٌ"; and "مَقادَةٌ"; and as for "مَثُوبَةٌ"; with a ضَمّ on the ث; its origin is "مَثْوُبَةٌ"; its form is "مَفْعُلَةٌ"; with a ضَمّ on the ع; the movement of the و was transferred to the ث; and it was previously "مَثْوُوبَةٌ"; like "مَقْوُولَةٌ"; and the meaning in both readings is: "A return with Allah; that is: on the Day of Resurrection; the Arabs say: "ثابَ; يَثُوبُ"; if he returns; and from it is His saying: "And when We made the House a مَثَابَةً for the people and a place of safety" [Al-Baqarah: 125].

The interpreters have proceeded in this verse on the basis that those who were commanded to say to them: "Shall I inform you"; are the Jews; and the disbelievers who take our religion as a mockery and a game; this was said by Al-Tabari and was followed; and he did not attribute anything in that to a predecessor; and the verse allows for the saying to be directed to the believers; meaning: "Say, O Muhammad, to the believers: Shall I inform you of a worse state than that of these disobedient ones at the time of returning to Allah; those are their ancestors whom Allah has cursed and upon whom He has become angry"; so the reference would be to their state of most of them being disobedient; and the verse allows for the saying to be directed to those present from the Children of Israel; and the reference would be to the state of the present ones; of most of them being disobedient; and His saying: "of a worse state"; and "more astray"; are two attributes of comparison between two things that share in evil and misguidance.

The verse can imply that the saying is for those present from the Children of Israel; and the reference with "that" is to the faith of the believers; and all of their states; and the preference is directed by "with evil"; and "and more astray"; on the understanding that the sharing in evil and misguidance is in the belief of the Jews; as for the reality, there is no evil; nor misguidance among the believers; nor do they share in that with the Jews and the disbelievers; and on this possibility is His saying: ﴿Whom Allah has cursed﴾; the verse refers to all the Children of Israel; the ancestors; and the descendants; because the descendants are condemned and reproached by the condemnations of the ancestors; if the descendants do not review or reproach what their ancestors were upon; then he is in their ruling.

And in the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b; and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "Whom Allah has become angry with them and made them into apes and pigs"; and the curse is: the distance from goodness.

And His saying, the Exalted: "and made"; it means: "turned into"; and Abu Ali said - in the book of "Al-Hujjah" -: it means "created".

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is from him - may Allah have mercy on him - a tendency of the Mu'tazila; because his saying: ﴿and worshipped the Taghut﴾; its estimation is: and whoever worshipped the Taghut; and the Mu'tazila do not see that Allah makes anyone a worshipper of the Taghut; and the story of their transformation into apes has already been mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah; as for their transformation into pigs, it has been narrated that this was because of a woman (p-204) who was a believer from the Children of Israel; and a king among them disbelieved in a city of their cities; and the people of his kingdom disbelieved with him; so the woman called a people to support the religion and they answered her; so she went out with them and they were defeated; then she did that a second time; and a third time; and each time her group was defeated; so she despaired; and spent the night in sorrow; and when she awoke, she saw the people of that city moving about as pigs; so she said: "Now I know that Allah has honored His religion and preferred His religion"; Amr ibn Kathir ibn Aflah; the freedman of Abu Ayyub Al-Ansari said: The transformation of the Children of Israel was only at the hands of that woman.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿and worshipped the Taghut﴾; its estimation is: and whoever worshipped the Taghut; and that is an addition to His saying: ﴿Whom Allah has cursed﴾; or it is an object for "and made"; and in this Abu Ali says: Indeed, "made"; means "created".

The readers have differed in this letter; so Hamzah alone read: "and worshipped the Taghut"; with the opening of the 'ayn; and the damm of the bā'; and the kasr of the tā' from "the Taghut"; and that is because "worshipped"; is a term of exaggeration; like "awake"; and "sneaky"; so it is a singular term; intended for the genus; and it is built in the structure of attributes; because "worshipped"; originally is an attribute; and although it has been used as a noun; that does not remove it from the ruling of the attribute; and for this reason, it was not prevented that it be built from it in the structure of attributes; and the one who read with this reading is Al-Amash; and Yahya ibn Waththab; and from him is the saying of the poet:

O sons of Lubayna, indeed your mother... is a maid and indeed your father is a worshipper.

(p-205) Al-Tabari and others mentioned it with the letter 'ba' being joined; while the rest read: ﴿وَعَبَدَ الطاغُوتَ﴾; with the letter 'ain' being opened; and the letter 'ba'; and its application to 'اَلطّاغُوتَ'; and it has been previously mentioned; and Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: 'عَبَدُوا الطاغُوتَ'; attributing the past tense verb to the plural pronoun; and Ibn Mas'ud read; in what was narrated by Abd al-Ghaffar from Alqamah; from him: 'وَعَبُدَ الطاغُوتُ'; with the letter 'ain' being opened; and the letter 'ba' being joined; and the letter 'ta' of 'اَلطّاغُوتُ' being raised; and this is on the basis that 'عَبُدَ' becomes like 'خُلُقِ' and the customary known matter; it is in the meaning of: 'فَقُهَ' and 'شَرُفَ' and 'ظَرُفَ'; and Ibn Abbas and Ibrahim ibn Abi Ablah read: 'وَعَبَدُ الطاغُوتِ'; with the letter 'ain' being opened; and the letter 'ba'; and the letter 'ta' of 'اَلطّاغُوتِ' being broken; and this is on the basis that the intended meaning is: 'عَبَدَةُ الطاغُوتِ'; and the 'ha' was omitted for ease; and similar is the saying of the poet:

؎ He stood and his rulers gave him a drink.

He meant: 'وُلاتُها'; so the omission was for ease; and Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan in the narration of Abbad from him read: 'وَعَبْدُ الطاغُوتِ'; with the letter 'ain' being opened; and the letter 'ba' being silent; and the letter 'ta' of 'اَلطّاغُوتِ' being broken; and this is on the basis that it is a singular noun intended for a plural; and it was narrated from Al-Hasan; from another route than Abbad that he read with the letter 'ain' being opened; and the letter 'dal' being opened; and the letter 'ba' being silent; and the letter 'ta' of 'اَلطّاغُوتَ' being raised; and this can be directed in two ways; one of which is that he intended: 'وَعَبْدًا الطاغُوتَ'; so he omitted the tanween; as it was omitted in the saying of the poet:

؎ ................. ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ And none remembers Allah except a few.

And the other way is that he meant: 'عَبَدَ'; which is a past tense verb; and he made the 'ba' silent in the manner that it is the eye of the action being silent in the saying of the poet: (p-206)

؎ And not every deceived one, even if his deal was past. ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗............

For the 'lam' of 'سَلْفَ' is silent; and similar is the saying of Abu al-Sammal: 'And they were cursed for what they said'; so these readings have the letter 'ain' in them being opened.

And Abu Waqid al-A'rabi read in the narration of Abbas ibn al-Fadl from him: 'وَعُبّادَ الطاغُوتِ'; with the letter 'ain' being joined; and the letter 'ba' being strongly pronounced; and an 'alif' after it; and the letter 'dal' being opened and the letter 'ta' of 'اَلطّاغُوتِ' being broken; and that is the plural of 'عابِدٌ'; and Awn al-'Uqayli read in what was narrated from him by Abbas ibn al-Fadl also: 'وَعابِدُ الطاغُوتِ'; on the pattern of Fa'il; and the letter 'dal' is raised; Abu Amr said: its meaning is: 'and they are عابِدُ الطاغُوتِ'.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: it is a generic name; and Ikrimah narrated from Ibn Abbas: 'وَعابِدُوا الطاغُوتِ'; with the plural pronoun; and some of the narrators said in this latter reading: that it is a permissibility; not a reading; and Ibn Buraidah read: 'وَعابِدَ الطاغُوتِ'; with the letter 'ain' being opened; and the letter 'dal'; and the letter 'ba' being broken; and the letter 'ta'; and some of the Basrians read: 'وَعِبادَ الطاغُوتِ'; with the letter 'ain' being broken; and the letter 'ba' being opened; and the letter 'dal'; and an 'alif' between them; and the letter 'ta' being broken; Abu al-Fath said: it is possible that this is the plural of 'عابِدٌ'; like 'قائِمٌ' and 'قِيامٌ'; and it may be permissible that it is the plural of 'عَبْدٌ'; and rarely does 'عِبادُ' come added to other than Allah; and Sibawayh recited:

Do you threaten me with your people, O son of Hajal? Are they old men who resemble the servants?

Abu al-Fath said: He means 'the servants of Adam - peace be upon him'; and if he meant 'the servants of Allah', then that is not something by which anyone can be insulted; and all of creation are the servants of Allah.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This connection to Adam - blessings and peace be upon him - is rare and distant; and the objection to it remains; and it is not something that can be imagined that the poet intended it; rather he meant 'the servants'; and the rhyme led him to 'the servants'; as it is said for one who possesses a certain quality; and it has been mentioned that the Arabs of al-Hirah from Iraq were called 'the servants' because they entered into the obedience of Kisra; and his kingdom subdued them.

Al-Tabari mentioned from Buraydah al-Aslami that he used to read: 'and the worshippers of the devil' with an open 'ain, an open dal, a broken ba, and an alif before it; and he mentioned 'the devil' instead of 'the tyrant'; and these are readings that contain an alif.

Ibn Abbas read, as narrated from Ikrimah; and Mujahid; and Yahya ibn Thawbah: 'and the worshippers of the tyrant' with a closed 'ain, a closed ba, an open dal, and a broken ta; and that is the plural of 'worshipper' like 'pledge' and 'pledges' and 'roof' and 'roofs'; and Ahmad ibn Yahya Thalab said: it is the plural of 'worshipper' like 'noble' and 'nobles'; and from it is the saying of the poet:

O Hamzah, for the noble heights, and they are secured in the courtyard.

Abu al-Hasan al-Akhfash said: it is the plural of 'servants'; and he recited:

Link the servant to his fathers, a black-skinned one from a people of servants.

Al-Amash and others read: 'and the worshippers of the tyrant' with a closed 'ain, a doubled ba that is open, an open dal, and a broken ta; and that is based on the plural of 'worshipper' like 'striker' and 'struck'; and Ibrahim al-Nakha'i; and Abu Ja'far ibn al-Qaqa'; and al-Amash in the narration of Harun read: 'and the tyrant was worshipped' with a closed 'ain, a broken ba, an open dal, and a closed ta; as you say: 'Zaid was struck'; and al-Tabari weakened this reading; and it is plausible; and it was narrated from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud that he read: 'and the tyrant was worshipped' as you say: 'the woman was struck'; and Alqamah narrated from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: 'and the worshippers of the tyrant' with a closed 'ain, an open ba, a dal, and a broken ta; and this is also a form of exaggeration; a singular noun intended here as a plural; built like 'crushed' and 'clothed'; and Ikrimah narrated from Ibn Abbas: 'and the tyrant was worshipped' on the pattern of 'F' with a closed fa, a doubled open 'ain, an open lam, and a genitive ta; and this can be derived from the intention of: 'and worshipped' with tanween, then the tanween was omitted for the sake of conjunction; as it was said: 'and not remembering Allah'; and a similar example has preceded.

And 'the tyrant': everything that is worshipped besides Allah; from an idol; or a human who accepts that; or a devil; and I have comprehensively explained its interpretation in Surah Al-Baqarah.

'And 'a place'; it is possible that he means: 'in the Hereafter'; for the place is in its essence; that is: the location; since their location is Hell. And it is possible that he means: 'in this world'; for it is a metaphor for status and condition.

And 'the straight path': its middle; and from it is the saying of the Arabs: 'I stood until my straightness was cut off'; and from it is His saying, exalted is He: 'in the midst of Hell' [As-Saffat: 55]; and the line of straightness in the paths is indeed firmly established in the centers; therefore, the straightness is specifically mentioned. And from the term straightness, it is said: 'the line of equilibrium.'