His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"And how many have We destroyed before them from a generation who were stronger than them in might? They searched throughout the lands. Is there any place of escape?" "Indeed, in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present." "And We created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in six days, and We were not touched by fatigue." "So be patient over what they say and glorify with praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting." "And in the night, glorify Him and at the ends of prostration."

"How many" is for abundance, and it is an informative statement. The meaning is: We have destroyed many before them. And "generation" refers to a community of people who experience a certain period of time. The people have differed regarding that period, so the majority said it is one hundred years, and it has been said otherwise. The statement about it has been mentioned previously several times. And "strength of might" refers to the abundance of power, wealth, dominion, health, intellect, and so on. The majority of people read: "They searched" with a strong open 'qaf' attributing the action to the past generations. The meaning is: They entered the lands through its openings. In the hadith: "Indeed, there are angels at the openings of Medina; neither plague nor the Dajjal will enter it," and the intended meaning is that they roamed and walked greedily in seeking safety from destruction. From this is the saying of the poet:

And I have searched the horizons until I was satisfied with returning from the spoils.

And from this is the saying of Al-Harith ibn Hilizah Al-Yashkuri:

They searched throughout the lands, fearing death, and roamed the earth in every direction.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Ibn Yamur, Nasar ibn Yasaar, and Abu Al-Aliyyah read: "They searched" with a strong broken 'qaf' regarding the matter for those present. And: "Is there any place of escape?" is a pause and confirmation, meaning: There is no escape. And "escape" is the place of evasion and avoidance. Qatadah said: The disbelievers sought to evade but found the command of Allah following them and overtaking them. In the beginning of Al-Bukhari: "So they evaded like the wild donkeys to the doors." And Ibn Abd Shams said in describing his she-camel:

When the guide evades, you see from her a tendency to the path in a consistent manner.

And Abu Amr - in the narration of Ubaid from him - read: "They searched" with an open 'qaf' and lightening it, which is also understood to mean the strong form. The word can also be used to mean searching and seeking. You say: He searched for such and such, meaning he sought it out. From this is "the leader of the people" because he is the one who searches for their affairs and discusses them. This, in my opinion, is a comparison to entering through the openings.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, in that is a reminder﴾ means the destruction of those who have passed. And "the reminder" is the admonition. And "the heart" is an expression of the mind, as it is its place. The meaning is for whoever has a heart that is aware and benefits from it. And Al-Shibli said: Its meaning is a heart present with Allah, glorified and exalted is He, that does not become heedless of Him for the blink of an eye. And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Or he has turned his hearing while he is a witness﴾ means he has directed his hearing to these admonishing tidings and has been attentive in hearing them. That is a turning of his attention to them. And from this is His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And I have cast upon you love from Me﴾ [Taha: 39], meaning: I have established it upon you. And some people said: His saying, exalted is He: "he has turned his hearing" and His saying: "and We struck upon their ears," and His saying: ﴿They fell into their hands﴾ [Al-A'raf: 149] are among what has become rare in its usage now and its meanings have distanced. And the saying of this speaker is weak; rather, it is clear in meaning, and it has passed in its place. And His saying, exalted is He: "and he is a witness" some of the interpreters said: Its meaning is: and he is present, attentive to the matter, not distracted nor pondering over anything other than what he hears. And Qatadah said: It is an indication to the people of the Book. It is as if He, glorified and exalted is He, said: Indeed, this lesson is a reminder for whoever has understanding, so he reflects upon the matter, or for whoever hears it from the people of the Book so he witnesses its truth due to his knowledge of it from the Book of the Torah and other books of the Children of Israel. So "witness" is in reference to the first interpretation of witnessing, and to the second interpretation of testimony. And Al-Suddi read: "Or he has turned his hearing," Ibn Jinni said: meaning: the hearing has been turned from him. Abu Amr Al-Dani reported that the reading of Al-Suddi was mentioned to Asim, and he disliked Al-Suddi and said: Is it not Allah, glorified and exalted is He, who says: "They cast their hearing."

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And We certainly created the heavens and the earth﴾... is news that includes a refutation of the Jews who said: Indeed, Allah created all things in six days, then He rested on the Sabbath. So it was revealed: ﴿And We were not touched by fatigue﴾, and fatigue means exhaustion, toil, and weariness. It is said: The man became fatigued if he became exhausted. And Al-Silmi and Talhah read: "Laghub" with a fatḥah on the lam.

And the hadiths have agreed that the beginning of the creation of things was on a Sunday. And in the Book of Muslim, and in the proofs of Thabit, there is a hadith that implies that this was on a Saturday. And upon every statement, they have agreed that Adam, peace be upon him, was created on a Friday. So whoever said that the beginning was on a Saturday made the creation of Adam, peace be upon him, like the creation of his children, and it is not counted with the first creation, and he made the day on which the creations were completed for him a Friday.

His saying, exalted is He: ﴿So be patient over what they say﴾ some of the interpreters said: The intended is the people of the Book for their saying: Then He rested on the Sabbath. And this statement from the people of the Book was in Makkah before the Hijrah.

The scholars among the commentators said: His saying, 'So be patient with what they say,' refers to the People of the Book and others among the disbelievers. It encompasses all the false sayings from Quraysh and others. Based on this interpretation, comes the saying of those who said the verse is abrogated by the verse of the sword. And 'Glorify' means: to glorify with a consensus among the interpreters. And His saying, 'With the praise of your Lord,' the 'with' indicates conjunction, meaning: glorify with a glorification that is accompanied by praise. An example of this is: 'It grows with oil,' according to some sayings about it. And 'before the rising of the sun' refers to the morning, and 'before the setting' refers to the afternoon, as stated by Qatadah, Ibn Zayd, and the people. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'Before the setting' refers to the noon and the afternoon. And 'from the night' refers to the prayer of the two night prayers. Ibn Zayd said: It is only the night prayer. Mujahid said: It is the night prayer. And His saying, 'And at the ends of prostration,' Umar ibn al-Khattab, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abu Hurairah, Al-Hasan, Al-Sha'bi, Ibrahim, Mujahid, and Al-Awza'i said: It refers to the two rak'ahs after Maghrib. Al-Tabari narrated it from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, as if it was considered the end of the daytime prayer just as the end of the stars in the night prayer. It was said: It refers to the two rak'ahs with Fajr. It was narrated from Ibn Abbas that 'the ends of prostration' refers to the Witr, as reported by Al-Thaalabi. Ibn Zayd and Ibn Abbas also said, as well as Mujahid: It refers to the voluntary prayers following the obligatory prayers. This is consistent with the wording of the verse. Some of the knowledgeable said: It is the night prayer. Al-Thaalabi said: Some of the scholars in His saying, 'Before the rising of the sun' refer to the two rak'ahs of Fajr, and 'before the setting' refers to the two rak'ahs before Maghrib. Some of the Tabi'in said: I saw the companions of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, rushing to it just as they rush to the obligatory prayer. Qatadah said: I have not seen anyone praying the two rak'ahs before Maghrib except Anas and Abu Barzah. Ibn Abbas, Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Hamzah, Abu Ja'far, Shaybah, 'Isa, Shibl, Talhah, and Al-Amash read: 'And at the ends of' with a kasrah on the alif, which is a source that was added to a time then the time was omitted, as they say: I came to you at the beginning of the Hajj and the rising of the star, and so on. The others, Al-Hasan, and Al-A'raj read: 'And at the ends of' with a fathah on the hamzah, which is a plural of dabr like tunb and atnab, meaning: 'And at the ends of prostration,' meaning: in its aftermath. Aws ibn Hajar said:

On the end of the sacred month, our land And what surrounds it is barren for years that shine.