His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Say, who will save you from the darknesses of land and sea? You call upon Him in humility and secretly: If He saves us from this, we will surely be among the grateful." "Say, Allah saves you from it and from every distress, then you associate partners." This is a continuation in reproaching those who are just in their worship of Allah, the Most High, for the idols; and stopping them from the evil act in their worship of the idols; and leaving that which saves from destruction; and seeking refuge in Him in times of hardship.

And "who"; is an interrogative raised by the beginning; and 'Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "Who will save you?"; "Say, Allah will save you"; with the emphasis on the letter 'jeem'; and the opening of the letter 'noon'; and Abu Amr in the narration of Ali ibn Nasr; from him; and Humayd ibn Qays; and Ya'qub read: "He will save you"; with the lightening of the letter 'jeem'; and the stillness of the letter 'noon'; and Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read with emphasis in the first instance; and lightening in the second; thus they combined between the transitive with the 'alif'; and the transitive with the doubling; as it has come in His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "So give respite to the disbelievers; give them a little time."

And "the darknesses of land and sea"; refers to their hardships; it is a general term; encompassing all that is from the hardships with a real darkness; and that which is without darkness; and the Arabs say: "a black year"; and "a dark day"; and "a day with stars"; and similar to this; they mean by it severity; Qatadah said: the meaning is: "from the distress of land and sea"; and this was said by Al-Zajjaj; and "you call upon Him"; is in the position of the state; and "in humility"; is in the accusative as a source; and the acting in it is "you call upon Him"; and humility is a quality apparent upon a person; and "and secretly"; its meaning is: concealment; and secrecy; so it is as if the structure of the saying is: "you call upon Him openly; and secretly"; this expression has additional meanings.

And all read - except 'Asim -: "and secretly"; with a dammah on the letter 'khaa'; and 'Asim read - in the narration of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him -: "and secretly"; with a kasrah on the letter 'khaa'; and Al-A'mash read: "and in fear"; from "fear"; and the people of Hijaz and the people of Sham read: "You saved us"; and the Kufans read: "You saved us"; mentioning the absent; and Hamzah and Al-Kisai tilted the letter 'jeem'; and "among the grateful"; meaning: in truth; and gratitude in truth includes faith; and Al-Tabari narrated - in His saying: "darknesses" - that it refers to the misguidance of the paths in darkness; and similar to it; and Al-Suddi narrated that it refers to the darkness of night; and clouds; and the sea.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this specification has no basis; rather it is a general term for types of hardships in meaning; and the term "the darknesses" was specified in mention; for what has been established in souls of the terror of darkness.

And His saying, exalted is He, "Say, Allah will save you"; it has preceded in Al-Mujadila to the answer; for there is no way to avoid it; "and from every distress"; this word is also general; so that the generality in the darkness becomes clear; and it is correct to interpret from His saying: "and from every distress"; the specification of the darkness before; and it was mentioned due to its severity; and it was connected in this place with "then"; for the delay that clarifies the ugliness of their action; meaning: "then after your knowledge of all this and your certainty of it, you associate partners (with Allah)."