'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿Say, 'To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth?' Say, 'To Allah.' He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely gather you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. Those who have lost themselves, they do not believe.﴾ ﴿And to Him belongs whatever dwells in the night and the day. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.﴾ (p-320) Some of the people of interpretation said: In the speech there is an omission; its meaning is: 'Say, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth?' So if they are perplexed and do not respond, then say 'To Allah.' And a group said: The meaning is that he was commanded with this question; so when they did not respond and were not certain, they asked, and it was said to him: 'Say, to Allah.' And the correct view is that Allah - glorified and exalted is He - commanded Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - to cut them off with this clear proof; and the decisive argument that there is no refutation of it with them, nor with anyone else; so that they may believe in this belief that is between him and them; then his argument is established against them; and this came in the form of a question and affirmation in His saying: ﴿To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth?﴾ And the way in argumentation is if a person asks his opponent about a matter that the opponent cannot refute; that he should precede him after the affirmation to the proof; as when you say to someone you want to defeat with a verse that you argue with against him: 'How did Allah, the Exalted, say in such and such?' Then you precede him to the verse; so you mention it to him; as if the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - said to them: 'O you disbelievers who are unjust to their Lord; to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth?' Then he preceded them and said: 'To Allah.' That is: there is no refutation of this with you, nor with anyone else. Then he began to inform about Him, the Exalted: ﴿He has decreed upon Himself mercy.﴾ Its meaning is: He has ordained it; and enacted it; and in this meaning there are hadiths from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - that include the writing of mercy; and it is known from many places in the Shari'ah that this is for the believers in the Hereafter; and for all people in this world; among them: 'Indeed, Allah, the Exalted, created one hundred mercies; He placed one of them on the earth; with it the animals show compassion; and the horse lifts its hoof so that it does not tread on its young; and with it the birds and the fish show compassion; and He has ninety-nine mercies with Him; so when the Day of Resurrection comes, He will unite that mercy with the ninety-nine and spread it among His servants.'" The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: How wretched is the one whom these mercies do not encompass! May Allah, the Exalted, envelop us with His grace. (p-321) And among them is another hadith: 'Indeed, Allah - glorified and exalted is He - has written a book with Him; it is above the Throne; that My mercy precedes My anger.' And it is narrated: 'It has reached My anger.' And its meaning is: It has preceded; and Thabit ibn Qasim recited to him: ؎ O sons of Kulayb, indeed my uncle, those who attained kingship and broke the chains.

This report about Allah, glorified and exalted is He, includes that He has written mercy; to comfort the disbelievers; and to negate their despair from the mercy of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, if they repent; and that the door of their repentance is open. Al-Zajjaj said: The mercy here is the delaying of the disbelievers; and granting them time to repent. Al-Mahdawi reported that a group of grammarians said: 'Indeed,

And His saying, exalted is He, "And to Him belongs whatever resides"; the verse: "And to Him"; is connected to His saying: "To Allah"; and the 'lam' is for ownership; and "what" means "that which"; and "resides" is from the root of 'sukna'; and similar to it; meaning: what is established; and settled; as said by Al-Suddi and others; and a group said: it is from 'sukoon'; and some of them said: because the stationary things are more than the moving ones; and other than this is the saying which is mixed; and the intent in the verse is the generality of everything; and that cannot be established unless "resides" means: "has settled; and established"; otherwise, the moving things among the created beings are more than the stationary ones; do you not see the celestial bodies; and the sun; and the moon; and the swimming stars; and the angels; and the types of animals? And the night and the day are enclosing for time.

"And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing"; these are two attributes that are fitting for the nature of the verse because what was mentioned before of the vile sayings of the disbelievers who are unjust; He is All-Hearing of them; All-Knowing of their places; and He will hold them accountable; so in the conscience is a warning.