His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "And the Day He gathers them all together, O assembly of jinn, you have certainly increased in number from among mankind." And their allies from among mankind will say, "Our Lord, some of us have benefited from others, and we have reached our appointed term which You appointed for us." He will say, "The Fire is your residence, abiding therein except for what Allah wills. Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing." And likewise, We will make some of the wrongdoers allies of one another because of what they used to earn." (p-460) "And the Day"; is in the accusative case due to an implied verb; its meaning is: "And remember the Day..."; and it is possible that the doer is: "their allies"; and the conjunction is on the position of His saying: "because of what they used to earn"; and the pronoun in "He gathers them" refers back to the two groups: those upon whom Allah has decreed the impurity; they are all the disbelievers; both jinn and mankind; and those who have the abode of peace; both jinn and mankind; and this is indicated by the general emphasis in His saying: "all together." Hafs read: "He gathers them" with a 'ya'; while the others read with a 'noon'; and both are correct. Then He mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - what is said to the disbelieving jinn; and in the speech there is an implied verb indicated by the apparent words; its meaning is: "We say, O assembly of jinn..."; and His saying: "You have certainly increased in number"; its meaning is: "You have neglected"; and "from among mankind"; He means in their misguidance; and leading them astray; this was said by Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Qatadah; and the disbelievers from among mankind; they are the allies of the reproached jinn; on the basis of excusing the jinn: "Our Lord, some of us have benefited from others"; meaning: they have derived benefit. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: and this is in many aspects: Al-Tabari and others narrated that mankind used to seek refuge with the jinn in valleys and places of fear; and the jinn used to boast over mankind; and dominate them; just as the Arab does with the soothsayer; and the protector with the one seeking protection; for when an Arab would descend into a valley, he would call out: "O Lord of the valley, I seek refuge with You this night"; then he sees that his safety is indeed by the protection of the jinn of that valley; this is the benefit of some of them from others. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: and this is an example of benefit; and if it were to be followed, other worldly aspects would become clear to him. And reaching the appointed term; Al-Suddi said: it is the death to which all of them have come; and it was said: it is the gathering; and it was said: it is the limit to which all of them have come from benefit; as if they indicated that this is by Your decree and Your judgment; for every book has an appointed term; and Al-Hasan read: "And we have reached our appointed term"; with a kasra on the lam, and it is emphasized.

And His saying, exalted is He, "The Fire is your abode"; this is a report from Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - about what He will say to them on the Day of Resurrection, following their previous words. The verb is in the past tense, while in reality it is future, for the correctness of its occurrence; and this is common in the Qur'an and eloquent speech. And "your abode" means the place of your reward, as your station, which is the place of residence. This is the saying of Al-Zajjaj and others. Abu Ali said in "Al-Ighfal": The abode for me is a source that has no place; and that is due to his action in the state which is "eternally abiding"; and the place does not have the meaning of action, so it becomes an agent; and the estimation is: "The Fire is that which has your rewards"; and the exception in His saying, exalted is He, "Except what Allah wills"; a group said: "what" means "who"; thus the intended meaning is: "except for whom Allah wills, from those who believed in this world, after they believed, from these disbelievers."

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And since these are a type, it is permissible to express them with "what"; and Al-Farra said: "except" means "other than"; and the intended meaning is: "other than what Allah wills, of an increase in punishment"; and Al-Zajjaj inclined towards this. Al-Tabari said: The exception is the duration that is between their gathering and their entering the Fire.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is permissible in terms of expression by His saying, exalted is He, "The Fire is your abode"; it does not specifically pertain to the future tense without others; and Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Abbas that he used to address in this exception that it is the extent of their state in the knowledge of Allah, exalted is He; then it was attributed to him that he said: This verse is a verse that no one should judge Allah in His creation; nor should they place them in Paradise or Hell.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And the consensus is on the eternal abode in Hell for the disbelievers; and this is not correctly reported from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And it is directed in my opinion in this exception that it is an address to the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and his community; and it is not something that is said on the Day of Resurrection; and the exception is for whoever among the disbelievers on that day believes in the knowledge of Allah, exalted is He; as if when He informed them that He said to the disbelievers: "The Fire is your abode"; He excluded for them whoever might believe among them.

And "Wise, Knowing" are two attributes suitable for this verse; for the eternal punishment of these disbelievers in the Fire is an act stemming from judgment and knowledge of the realities of things.

And His saying, exalted is He, "And thus We make some of them allies of others in disbelief and wrongdoing"; Qatadah said: "We make" means: "We make some of them allies of one another in disbelief and wrongdoing."

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this interpretation is supported by what has preceded regarding the jinn and humans, and the enjoyment of some of them with others; and Qatadah also said: The meaning of "We make" is: "We follow some of them with others in entering the Fire"; that is: "We make some of them follow others"; and Ibn Zayd said: Its meaning is: "We empower some of the wrongdoers over others; and make them allies of retribution against them."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this interpretation is not supported by the words of the previous verse; however, it has been preserved in the usage of the Companions and the Followers. Among that is what has been narrated that Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair, when he was informed that Abdul Malik ibn Marwan had killed Amr ibn Said Al-Ashdaq, ascended the pulpit and said: "Indeed, the mouth of the flies has killed the wretched devil"; and "And thus We assign some of the wrongdoers to others because of what they used to earn."