His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice. There is no changing His words, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing." "And if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they are only guessing." "Indeed, your Lord knows best who strays from His way, and He knows best the rightly guided." (p-447) "And the word has been fulfilled" - in this context - means: "It has continued; and it has been true in the past; and just." And it is not a completion from deficiency; and similar to it is what occurred in the biography when they said: "And Hamzah has completed his Islam"; in the conversation with Abu Jahl. And "the words": what has been revealed to His servants; and 'Asim, and Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "word" in the singular here; and in "Yunus"; in both places; and in "Ha-Mim Al-Mu'min"; and Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir read all of that as "words" in the plural; and Ibn Kathir and Abu 'Amr read here only as "words" in the plural; and Al-Tabari went to say that it is the Qur'an; as it is said: "the word of so-and-so" in a poem; and in an eloquent speech. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is, in my view, a distant objection; and the intent is to express the validity of His saying - the Most High - "in truth"; in what it contains of news; and "in justice"; in what it contains of ruling; and they are two sources in the context of the situation; Al-Tabari said: "They are set for distinction"; and this is not correct; and "There is no changing His words"; its meaning is: in their meanings; that one clarifies that his news is contrary to what he informed; or clarifies that his command will not be executed; and the example of this is that Allah - the Most High - said to His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: "If Allah brings you back to a group of them, and they ask your permission to go out" [At-Tawbah: 83]; to: "the left behind" [At-Tawbah: 83]; then the hypocrites said after that to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and to the believers: "Let us follow you"; [Al-Fath: 15] then Allah - the Most High - said to His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: "They want to change the words of Allah. Say: 'You will never follow us.' Thus Allah has said before" [Al-Fath: 15]; or in His saying - the Most High - "Say: 'You will never go out with me, ever'" [At-Tawbah: 83]; because its implication is the news that it is not permitted for them to go out; and as for the words, the Children of Israel have changed them; and altered them; this is the view of a group of scholars; and it has been narrated from Ibn 'Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - that they only changed by interpretation; and the first is more likely; and in the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "There is no changing the words of Allah." And His saying - the Most High - "And if you obey most of those on earth"; the verse; the meaning is: "So proceed, O Muhammad, with what you have been commanded; and carry out your message; for if you obey most of those on earth, they will mislead you"; and He mentioned - glorified is He -: "most"; because the people of the earth at that time were mostly disbelievers; and the believers were but a few.

Ibn Abbas said: "The 'earth' here refers to the world. It has been reported that the reason for this verse is that the polytheists argued with the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - regarding the matter of sacrifices. They said: 'You eat what you kill, and you leave what Allah has killed?' So the verse was revealed. And He - glorified and exalted is He - described them as following their assumptions and adhering to their fabrications. And 'fabrication' means estimation and assumption. The majority of people read: 'yadillu' with a vowel on the 'ya'. Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan read: 'yudillu' with a vowel on the 'ya'. Ahmad ibn Abi Shuraih narrated it from al-Kisai. And 'who' in His saying: 'Who goes astray' is in the position of accusative with an implied verb, the meaning of which is: 'He knows who'. It is said to be in the position of nominative, as if he said: 'Which one goes astray from his path'. Abu al-Fath mentioned it and Abu Ali weakened it. It is said to be in the position of genitive with an implied preposition, as if he said: 'By whom goes astray from his path'. This is weak. Abu al-Fath said: This is what is intended; the preposition has been omitted, and 'I know' is connected to itself. He said: And it is not permissible for 'I know' to be added to 'who', because the comparative form is one of the things to which it is added. And this verse is a report that contains a warning for the misguided and a promise for the guided.