'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Say, 'Indeed, my Lord has guided me to a straight path, a correct religion, the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth, and he was not of the polytheists.'" "Say, 'Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.'" "He has no partner. And with that, I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.'" This is a command from Allah - glorified and exalted is He - to His Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -; to announce His Sharia; and to reject all that is besides it from their misguidance; and to describe the Sharia as it is in terms of beauty; and virtue; and uprightness; and "He has guided me"; its meaning is: He has directed me by creating guidance in my heart; and "the Lord": the owner; and its term is a source; from your saying: "his Lord; He nurtures him"; and it is similar to "justice"; and "pleasure"; in that it is a source and a description by which it is described; and its origin is: "the one with the Lord"; then the added word was omitted; and the added word to it was placed in its place; so it was said: "the Lord." And "the path": the way; and "a correct religion"; is accusative by "He has guided me"; the implied meaning that is indicated by "He has guided me"; the first; and this pronoun connects alone without needing to imply "to"; since "He has guided"; connects by itself to its second object; and by the preposition; so it is a repeated action; and it is said: "a correct religion" was made accusative by an implied verb; its estimation is: "He has made me aware of a religion"; and it is said: its estimation is: "So follow a religion"; or: "So adhere to a religion"; and it is said: it was made accusative as a substitute for "a path"; in the place; because its estimation is: "My Lord has guided me to a straight path"; and "a correct religion"; is an adjective for the religion; and its meaning is: "upright and moderate." Ibn Kathir; and Nafi'; and Abu Amr read: "a correct religion"; with the opening of the qaf; and breaking the ya; and emphasizing it; and its origin is: "a correct one"; it was justified like the justification of "a master"; and "a dead one"; and Asim; and Ibn Amer; and Hamza; and Al-Kisai read: "a correct religion"; with a broken qaf; and an opened ya; on the pattern of "fi'al"; and it seems that the origin is that it comes in it: "a correct one"; like "a substitute"; and "a turn"; except that it is an anomaly like the anomaly of their saying: "good horses"; in the plural of "a good one"; and "a bull"; in the plural of "a bull." And "the religion"; is a substitute for the religion; and "the religion": the Sharia; and "inclining toward truth"; is made accusative as a state from "Abraham"; and "inclining"; in the speech of the Arabs means: the inclination; and it may be the inclination toward corruption; as in "the man inclined"; and as His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "So whoever fears from a bequest an inclination"; [Al-Baqarah: 182] according to the reading of one who read with the unpointed ha; and similar to that; and it may be that the inclination is toward righteousness; as His saying - blessings and peace be upon him -: "The inclining religion is the easy one"; and "the upright religion"; and similar to that; and Ibn Qutaybah said: The inclination is uprightness; and it is called "the one who inclines"; in a man; in a sense of optimism for him. "And he was not of the polytheists"; is a negation of deficiency from him - blessings and peace be upon him.

And His saying, exalted is He, "Say, indeed my prayer"; this verse is a command from Allah - glorified and exalted is He - to declare that His intention in His prayer, and His obedience, whether in sacrifice or otherwise, and His actions throughout his life, and his state of sincerity and faith at his death, is only for Allah - glorified and exalted is He - and seeking His face, and seeking His pleasure. In the declaration of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - with this statement, there is an obligation for the believers to follow him - blessings and peace be upon him - so that they adhere in all their actions to the intention of the face of Allah - glorified and exalted is He. It is possible that he means by this statement that his prayer, his rituals, his life, and his death are in the hands of Allah - glorified and exalted is He - who manages them as He wills. And that He has guided him from that to a straight path. And His saying, exalted is He, "And with that I have been commanded"; on this interpretation, refers back to His saying, exalted is He, "There is no partner for Him"; only; or it refers back to the first saying. And on the first interpretation, it refers to all that has been mentioned of prayer and others; meaning: I have been commanded to intend the face of Allah - glorified and exalted is He - in that, and to adhere to the action.

And the majority of the people read: "And my rituals"; with a dammah on the letter 'sīn'; and Abu Haywah and Al-Hasan read it with a sukoon on the letter 'sīn'; and a group said: the rituals in this verse refer to the sacrifices.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It is good to specify the sacrifice by mentioning it in this verse because it is a revelation that has been previously mentioned; and the debate about it is in the surah. A group said: the rituals in this verse refer to all acts of obedience; from your saying: "So-and-so performed rituals; thus he is a worshipper"; if he worships.

And the seven reciters - except for Nafi' - read: "And my life and my death"; with a fatha on the 'yā' of "my life"; and a sukoon on "and my death"; and Nafi' alone read: "And my life"; with a sukoon on the 'yā'; Abu Ali Al-Farisi said: This is odd in terms of analogy; because it combines two letters that are both in sukoon; and it is odd in usage; and its justification is that it has been heard from the Arabs: "The two loops of the belt met"; and "So-and-so has two-thirds of the wealth"; and Abu Khulaid narrated from Nafi' "And my life"; with a kasrah on the 'yā'; and Ibn Abu Ishaq, and Isa, and Al-Jahdari read: "And my life"; and this is the language of Hudhayl; and from it is the saying of Abu Dhuhayyib:

They preceded my passion and succumbed to their desire, So they fell, and for every side is a fall.

And Isa ibn Umar read: "My prayer and my rituals and my life and my death"; with a fatha on the 'yā' in them; and this was narrated from Asim.

And His saying, exalted is He, "And I am the first of the Muslims"; means: from this nation; and Al-Naqqash said: "From the people of Mecca".

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The meaning is the same; rather the first is more general and better; and a group read: "And I"; with an elongation of the 'alif'; and the majority of the reciters read "And I"; without elongation; and all of this is in connection.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And leaving the elongation is better; because it is an alif of pause; so if the speech is connected, it is sufficient without it; especially if it is followed by a hamzah.