His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "The multitude will be defeated, and they will turn their backs." "Rather, the Hour is their appointment, and the Hour is more severe and bitter." "Indeed, the criminals are in error and madness." "On the Day they are dragged into the Fire on their faces, taste the touch of Saqar." "Indeed, We created everything with decree." "And Our command is but one, like the twinkling of an eye." "And We have certainly destroyed your likes, so is there any who will remember?" "And everything they did is in the records." "And every small and great thing is noted." "Indeed, the righteous are in gardens and rivers." "In a seat of truth with a Sovereign, Omnipotent." This is a promise from Allah, the Exalted, to His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, that the multitude of Quraysh will be defeated in support of him. The majority hold that this verse is Meccan. It has been narrated from Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "I used to say to myself: Which multitude will be defeated? When the Day of Badr occurred, I saw the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in armor saying: 'The multitude will be defeated, and they will turn their backs.'" The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Indeed, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was in Badr invoking the verse." Some said: The verse was revealed on the Day of Badr, and that is weak. The correct view is that the promise was fulfilled on the Day of Badr. Abu Hatim said: Some of the reciters read: "The multitude will be defeated" with a fatha on the ya and a kasra on the zay, making "the multitude" in the accusative. Abu Amr al-Dani reported that Abu Haywah read: "We will defeat" with a noon and a kasra on the zay, making "the multitude" in the accusative, and "and you will turn" with a ta from above. Then these sayings were left aside, and attention was turned to the matter of the Hour, whose punishment is more severe for them than any defeat or killing. So He, exalted is He, said: "Rather, the Hour is their appointment, and the Hour is more severe and bitter." "More severe" is a comparative form from the calamity, which is the greatest disaster that befalls a person, and "more bitter" is from bitterness, and the term here is metaphorical as it is not something that is tasted. Then He, exalted is He, informed about the criminals that they are in this world in confusion, destruction, and loss of guidance, and in the Hereafter in burning and madness from where they are headed. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: The meaning is: in loss and madness, and "madness" is insanity. Most of the interpreters hold that the criminals here refer to the disbelievers. Some said: The criminals refer to the Qadariyyah who say that the actions of the servants are not decreed by Allah, the Exalted. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: They are those who are threatened with being dragged into Hell, and dragging is pulling. In the reading of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him: "to the Fire." And His saying, exalted is He: "So taste" is a metaphor, meaning it is said to them: Taste, in the sense of reproach.

And the people differed in the saying of Him, the Most High: ﴿Indeed, We created everything with a measure﴾. The majority of the people read: "Indeed, We created everything" in the accusative case, and they said: the meaning is: Indeed, We created everything that We created with a measure. And "created" is not in the position of an attribute for "thing", but it is an action indicating the implied action. This meaning necessitates that everything is created, except for what the evidence of reason has established is not created, such as the Qur'an and the attributes. Abu al-Samali read - and Abu al-Fath preferred it -: "Indeed, all" in the nominative case as a subject, and the predicate is "We created it with a measure". Abu Hatim said: "This is the correct view in Arabic, and our reading in the accusative is with the majority."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And a group from the people of the Sunnah read it in the nominative case, and their meaning is similar to that of the earlier ones, that everything is created with a preceding measure. And "We created it" - in this case - is not an attribute for "thing", and this is the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah. They have a strong argument from the verse for these two statements.

And the Qadariyyah said, and they are those who say: there is no measure, and a person alone is the doer of his actions, the reading is: "Indeed, we created everything" with the nominative of "everything", and "We created it" is in the position of an attribute for "everything", meaning: Our matter and affair is that everything We created is by measure, that is: by a specific amount and according to what is in its form, time, and other than that. They remove with this interpretation the place of the evidence against them from the verse.

And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, said: I find in the Book of Allah, the Most High, a people being dragged in the Fire on their faces because they used to deny the measure, saying: A person creates his actions. And I do not see them, so I do not know whether something has passed before us or something remains. And Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Quraysh argued with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about the measure, and this verse was revealed." Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami said: A man said: O Messenger of Allah, then what is the purpose of action? Is it in something we initiate or in something that has been completed? The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Act, for everyone is facilitated for what he was created for. He will be facilitated for the easy, and he will be facilitated for the hard." And Anas ibn Malik said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The Qadariyyah, those who say good and evil are in our hands, have no share in my intercession, and I am not one of them, nor are they of me."

And His saying, the Most High: "Except for one thing" means: except for one saying, which is "Be". And His saying, the Most High: "Like a glance of the eye" is an explanation for the people in the quickest way they perceive. And in some matters of Allah, the Most High, it is revealed faster than the glance of the eye. And "the factions" are the groups that are similar in doctrine and religion, and so forth. The first is a faction for the latter, and the latter is a faction for the first.

Then He, the Most High, informed that all the actions of the doomed nations are written and preserved for them until the Day of Judgment. Ibn Abbas said this, I wrote and I wrote with a meaning. And it was narrated from Asim that the letter 'ra' is emphasized in "mustatar". Abu Amr said: And this will only be at the standing, a known language.

And the majority of the people read: "and a river" with a فتح on the هاء and نون, on the basis that it is a name of the genus meaning rivers, or on the basis that it means abundance in sustenance and dwellings. From this is the saying of Qais ibn al-Khatheem:

I have possessed it with my hand, so I made its opening like a river; one standing behind it sees what is beyond it.

So his saying: "I made it a river" means I made its opening like a river. And Zuhayr al-Farqabi and al-Amash read: "and a river" with a ضم on the نون and هاء, on the basis that it is the plural of نَهار, since there is no night in Paradise. This is permissible in wording but awkward in meaning, and it is possible that it could be the plural of نَهَر. Mujahid, Humayd, Abu al-Samal, and al-Fayyad ibn Ghazwan read: "river" with a سكون on the هاء in the singular.

And His saying, the Exalted: "in a seat of truth" it is possible that He means by it the truth which is the opposite of falsehood, that is: in the seat in which they believed the news of it. And it is possible that it is from your saying: "a return of truth" that is: good, and "a man of truth" that is: good and possesses good qualities. The majority of the people read: "in a seat" as a name of the genus, and Uthman al-Batti read: "in seats" in the plural, and "the Mighty Sovereign" is Allah, glorified and exalted is He.

The interpretation of Surah al-Qamar is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.