His saying - glorified and exalted is He -:

﴿And they said, "These are livestock and tilled land, a prohibition; none shall eat of them except whom we wish," by their claim. And livestock whose backs are forbidden, and livestock upon which they do not mention the name of Allah, inventing lies against Him. He will recompense them for what they used to invent.﴾

This verse includes a recounting of what they legislated for themselves; and they adhered to it in the matter of closeness to Allah; a lie from them against Allah, the Most High; and an invention against Him. So He described that they deliberately took some of their livestock; and it is: camels; and cattle; and sheep; or camels alone; as for others when they are alone, they are not called livestock. And to some of their crops and fruits; and this was called "tilled land"; as it is from tilled land. And they said: "This is a prohibition"; meaning: forbidden. The majority of people read: "حِجْرٌ" (hijr) with a kasra on the ح (h) and a sukoon on the ج (j). And Qatadah, Al-Hasan, and Al-A'raj read: "حُجْرٌ" (hujr) with a damma on the ح (h) and a sukoon on the ج (j). And Ibn Abbas, Ubayy, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Zubair, Al-Amash, Ikrimah, and Amr ibn Dinar read: "حِرْجٌ" (hirj) with a kasra on the ح (h), the ر (r) preceding the ج (j), and a sukoon on it. The first and second meanings are: "the prohibition"; which is the prevention; and the forbidding; and the latter is from "الْحِرْجُ" (al-hirj); which is the constriction; and the forbidding.

And these livestock - according to what Ibn Zayd said - were lawful for men; and forbidden for women; and it was said: they were dedicated for the sustenance of the caretakers of the idols' houses and their servants; as reported by Al-Mahdawi; so that is what is meant by His saying: ﴿whom we wish﴾.

And His saying: ﴿"by their claim";﴾ means: by their assertion which is closer to falsehood than to truth; and their claim here is in their saying: "حِجْرٌ" (hijr); and their forbidding thereby what Allah, the Most High, did not forbid. And Ibn Abi Abilah read: "بِزَعَمِهِمْ" (bi-z'ami-him) with a fathah on the ز (z) and the ع (a); and likewise in what preceded.

﴿And livestock whose backs are forbidden﴾; for the Arabs had traditions; if a she-camel did such and such from the quality of offspring; and the connection between females; and similar; its back was forbidden so it was not ridden; and if a male did such and such; its back was forbidden; so Allah, the Most High, counted that in response to them; as they legislated that by their opinion and their lies.

﴿And livestock upon which they do not mention the name of Allah﴾; it was said: they had a tradition regarding some livestock; that it should not be sacrificed; so it was ridden in every direction; except in Hajj; so that is His saying: ﴿they do not mention the name of Allah upon it﴾; this is the saying of a group of the interpreters; and it is narrated from Abu Wail; and a group said: rather that is in the sacrifices; meaning that they assigned a share of it to their deities; they do not mention Allah, the Most High, upon its slaughtering; and His saying: ﴿"inventing lies";﴾ is a source that is in the accusative for its purpose; or upon the implied verb; its estimation being: "they invent that"; and ﴿"He will recompense them";﴾ is a threat of recompense in the Hereafter; and the pronoun in "upon it" refers back to the name of Allah, the Most High; and ﴿"they invent";﴾ [al-An'am: 137] means: "they lie and fabricate."