His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So they were not able to rise, nor were they victorious." "And the people of Noah before; indeed, they were a disobedient people." "And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are expanding it." "And the earth We spread out; excellent is the spreader." "And of everything We created pairs, that perhaps you may remember." "So flee to Allah; indeed, I am to you from Him a clear warner." "And do not make with Allah another deity; indeed, I am to you from Him a clear warner." "Thus, there did not come to those before them from a messenger except that they said, 'A magician or a madman.'" Some of the interpreters said: "'From rising' means: they were not able to stand from their places. And Qatadah and others said: it means: from standing in the matter and repelling it, as you say: so-and-so has a standing in such and such, meaning: a reform and a rise." Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Ibn Amir, and Asim read: "And the people of Noah" in the accusative, which is an addition either to the pronoun in His saying, exalted is He: "So We destroyed them"; as it is in the place of "We destroyed them," or to the pronoun in His saying, exalted is He: "And We discarded them." Abu Amr read - as narrated by Abd al-Warith - "And the people of Noah" in the nominative, and that is based on the subject and predicate. Abu Amr, Hamzah, and al-Kisai read: "And the people of Noah" in the genitive, as an addition to what preceded in His saying, exalted is He: "And in Thamud." And the accusative has been narrated from Abu Amr. His saying, exalted is He: "And the heaven" is in the accusative due to an implied verb, the meaning of which is: We constructed the heaven; and "the strength" means: power, as said by Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Qatadah. It appears in the mushaf with two alifs, and that is for the easing of the hamzah, and there is a view on this. His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, We are expanding" may mean: we expand things in strength and ability, as Allah, exalted is He, said: "And upon the one who has the ability, it is sufficient" [Al-Baqarah: 236]. That is: the one who expands his people in spending. And it may mean: We are expanding in the construction of the heaven, meaning: We made it wide. This is the interpretation of Ibn Zayd. And al-Hasan said: it is the expansion of provision through the rain of the heaven. And "the spreader" is the one who prepares the place that is spread and laid out. His saying, exalted is He: "And of everything We created pairs" means: companions that are complementary. Mujahid said: it means that this is a reference to opposites and counterparts among things, such as night and day, misery and happiness, guidance and misguidance, the heaven and the earth, blackness and whiteness, health and sickness, disbelief and faith, and similar to this. Al-Tabari preferred this as it is more indicative of the power that brings forth opposites, unlike what acts by its nature in a single action, like heating and cooling. Ibn Zayd and others said: it is a reference to the female and male of every living creature. The expectation in His saying, exalted is He: "that perhaps you may remember" is according to the creation of humans and their custom. The majority read: "you may remember" with emphasis on the dhāl and the merging. Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: "you may remember" with two tā's and a light dhāl.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So flee to Allah" commands entering into faith and obedience to Allah, exalted is He. He made the command with the word 'flee' to alert that behind the people is punishment and torment, and it is right to flee from it. The word 'flee' combines warning and invitation. This meaning is reflected in the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "There is no refuge and no escape from You except to You..." The hadith. Al-Hasan ibn al-Fadl said: Whoever flees to other than Allah, exalted is He, does not escape from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And do not make with Allah another deity" is a prohibition against the worship of idols, devils, and every [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: mad'u] other than Allah, exalted is He. The benefit of repeating His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, I am to you from Him a clear warner" is to convey the message and shake the soul, and to emphasize the warning. The repetition of the words exactly in these meanings is eloquent due to the intensity of the sound.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Thus" means: the conduct of the nations is thus, or the matter in the past is thus. And His saying, exalted is He: "Except they said, 'A magician' or 'A madman'" means that some said this and some said that and some said this and some of all. Do you not see that the people of Lot, peace be upon him, never said: 'A magician,' but rather said: 'He is possessed.' So when the factions differed, the report about that was made by including 'or' between the two forms. And it does not mean that every nation said about its prophet: 'He is a magician' or 'He is mad.' This is not like the previous one regarding Pharaoh, but this is as if He, exalted is He, said: 'Except they said: He is a magician, or they said: He is mad.'