His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Say, do you worship besides Allah that which does not possess for you harm or benefit? And Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." "Say, O People of the Book, do not exceed the limits in your religion beyond the truth, and do not follow the desires of a people who have gone astray before, and have led many astray, and have gone astray from the right path." "Cursed are those who disbelieved from the Children of Israel by the tongue of Dawood and 'Isa son of Maryam. That is because they disobeyed and were transgressing." Allah, the Exalted, commanded His Prophet to confront them regarding their worship of a person from among humans; who does not possess the ability to harm them; nor to benefit them. And "besides"; and "besides so-and-so"; and whatever comes from this wording; it is only added to one who is not in the situation in which the saying is made; and interpreting it as "other than" is not a consistent matter. And "harm"; with the opening of the letter 'dāl'; is the source; and "harm"; with the letter 'dāl' being pronounced with a 'ḍ' sound; is the noun; and it is the absence of good. And "the All-Hearing"; refers to the gathering of their sayings; and "the All-Knowing"; of their intentions; and some of the interpreters said: These two attributes indicate the limitation of humans; meaning: "And Allah, the Exalted, is the All-Hearing and All-Knowing absolutely; not 'Isa; nor anyone else"; and they acknowledge that 'Isa was for a period unable to hear; nor to know; and a similar statement was made by Makki. Then Allah, the Exalted, commanded His Prophet Muhammad to prohibit them from exceeding the limits in their religion; and exceeding the limits: is going beyond the boundary; "the arrow exceeded"; if it went beyond the intended target; and fulfilled its aim from the straightness; and that distance is its exceeding; and as His saying: "Do not exceed"; meaning: "Do not say; nor commit"; "other than" was made accusative; and the meaning of this verse is not: "Avoid the exceeding in your religion that you are upon"; rather its meaning is: "In your religion that should be your religion"; because every person is required to follow the true religion; and it is fitting that he follows it; and adheres to it; and this address is for the Christians who have exceeded in 'Isa - blessings and peace be upon him -; and the people whom the Christians were prohibited from following their desires: the Children of Israel; and the meaning of the verse is: "Do not follow your desires; as those followed their desires"; so the meaning is: "Do not follow their paths"; and what led to this interpretation is that the Christians in their exceeding are not upon the desires of the Children of Israel; they are opposed in sayings; rather they have gathered in following a type of desire; so the verse is like your saying to someone you blame for deviation: "This is the way of so-and-so"; you represent him with another who has deviated in another way of deviation; even if their situations differ. And Allah described the Jews as having gone astray long ago; and having led many of their followers astray; then He affirmed the matter by repeating His saying: "And they have gone astray from the right path"; and some of the interpreters went to the meaning: "O People of the Book from the Christians; do not follow the desires of those Jews who have gone astray before - meaning: their ancestors went astray; and they were before the coming of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -; and they have led many of the hypocrites astray; and they have gone astray from the right path now after the truth has become clear."

'And His saying, the Most High: "Cursed are those who disbelieved from among the Children of Israel"; this verse has been established in many places in the Qur'an regarding what occurred during the time of Musa - peace be upon him - from the disbelief of some of them and their transgression. Likewise, their matter with Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - was witnessed at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an. This verse specifically mentions Dawud and 'Isa - peace be upon them - as a notification that they were cursed in the four scriptures, and that they were indeed cursed by the tongue of others than Musa - peace be upon him - and Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him.

Ibn 'Abbas - may Allah be pleased with him - said: They were cursed by every tongue; they were cursed during the time of Musa - peace be upon him - in the Torah; and during the time of Dawud - peace be upon him - in the Psalms; and during the time of 'Isa - peace be upon him - in the Gospel; and during the time of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - in the Qur'an.

Ibn Jurayj narrated that it was coupled with their curse by the tongue of Dawud - peace be upon him - that they were transformed into pigs. This is because Dawud - peace be upon him - passed by a group while they were in a house; he said: "Who is in the house?" They said: "Pigs," meaning they were secluded. He said: "O Allah, make them pigs," and they became pigs. Then 'Isa - peace be upon him - prayed against those who slandered him to be transformed into apes, and they became apes.

Mujahid and Qatadah said: Rather, they were transformed into apes during the time of Dawud - peace be upon him - and into pigs during the time of 'Isa - peace be upon him. Al-Zajjaj narrated something similar.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And the mention of transformation is not what the words of the verse convey; rather, the words of the verse convey that Allah, the Most High, cursed them and distanced them from His mercy. He informed the believing servants of this through the tongue of Dawud the Prophet in his time, and through the tongue of 'Isa in his time. It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that he said: The people of the Sabbath were cursed by the tongue of Dawud, and those who disbelieved in the Table were cursed by the tongue of 'Isa.

And His saying, the Most High: "That" is a reference to their curse; and the rest of the verse is clear.