'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Say, 'Shall we call upon other than Allah that which does not benefit us or harm us and we return on our heels after Allah has guided us, like one whom the devils have enticed in the earth, confused? He has companions calling him to guidance, 'Come to us.' Say, 'Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the true guidance, and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds.'" The meaning: "Say in your argument: Shall we obey your opinion to call upon other than Allah...?" The supplication encompasses worship and other than it. For whoever makes something the object of his supplication, he worships it; and upon it, he relies. "That which does not benefit us or harm us"; it means the idols, as they are inanimate objects, stones, wood, and the like. The harm of the idols in religion is not understood by the disbelievers; therefore, He said: "And does not harm us"; the harm they understand is from the occurrence of worldly misfortunes. And we return on our heels; it is a metaphor. This is because to be returned on one's heels means that a person walks forward - which is the good walking - then he is returned to walk backward - which is the lowly walking. Thus, the metaphor is used for one who has turned back from good to evil; and it has occurred in this verse to represent the one who has turned back from guidance to the worship of idols. And "He has guided us" means: He has directed us. Al-Tabari and others said: The return on one's heels is used for one who has hoped for something and his hope has failed. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this saying is anxious. And His saying - exalted is He - "like one whom the devils have enticed"; the 'kaf' is in the position of a noun; it is an adjective for a missing source; its estimation is: "a return like the return of one who..."; and "enticed him" means: "they called him to his desires and led him astray"; Abu Ubaidah said: It is possible that his inclination is his strong desire, and his stubbornness in turning to them. And "al-hawa" - from "hawa; yahwi" - is used in falling from high to low; and from it is the saying of the poet: 'My son has fallen from the heights of honor, and his foot and hand slipped.' And this meaning has no place in this verse except that the word is interpreted to mean: "The devils have thrown him into a pit"; and Abu Ali has gone to this; and he said: it means: "he has fallen"; just as "they led him astray" means: "they caused him to fall." Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The clarification is that the Arabs say: "he has fallen"; and "he has led him to fall"; and "he has enticed him"; meaning: "he requested from him to fall"; or: "he requested from him to fall for something." And 'hawa' is also used in stubbornness, in turning towards something; and from it is His saying - exalted is He -: "So make hearts among the people incline towards them" [Ibrahim: 37]; and from it is the saying of the poet of the jinn: 'They incline towards Mecca seeking guidance, as if the believers of the jinn are like its filth.' And this meaning is the one that is appropriate for the verse.

And the majority of the people read: "The devils have led him astray"; and Al-Hasan read: "The devils have led him astray"; and some people said: it is a mistake; but it is not so; rather it is a repugnant oddity; and it is only carried on their saying: "Sunnun"; and "Ardun"; except that these are in an accepted plural; and "Shayatoon"; is in a broken plural; so this is the place of oddity; and Hamzah read: "The devils have led him astray"; and he tilted "The devils have led him astray"; and Abu Abdur-Rahman As-Sulami; Al-Amash; and Talhah read: "The devil has led him astray"; with the 'ya' and the singular of "The devil"; and Al-Kisai mentioned that it is likewise in the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud.

And His saying: ﴿ "In the earth"; ﴾ rules that "The devils have led him astray"; is only in the meaning of: "It has summoned his identity; which is the seriousness in turning away"; and "confused"; is in the place of the state; and its feminine form is "confused"; so it does not decline in definiteness; nor in indefiniteness; and its meaning is: "lost; bewildered"; and it is a state from the pronoun in "The devils have led him astray"; and the factor in it is: "The devils have led him astray"; and it is permissible that it be from "like that which"; and the factor in it is estimated after the 'ka'; and His saying: "The devils have led him astray"; implies that he was on a path; so it summoned him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The context of this parable is as if he said: "Is it appropriate that after guidance we worship idols; and that this would be a turning back for us; and it would be like a man on a clear path; so the devils led him astray from it; and he exited to their call; and remained confused?"; and His saying: ﴿He has companions﴾; it is possible that he means: "He has companions on the path from which he exited"; so it is likened to the companions - on this - the believers; who call those who have turned back to return to guidance; and this is the interpretation of Mujahid; and Ibn Abbas; and it is possible that he means: "He has companions; meaning from the devils who call; or do not call him to guidance; by their claim; but rather they deceive him"; so it is likened to the companions - on this - the disbelievers; who affirm those who have turned back from Islam in their turning back; and this interpretation has been narrated from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with them both - as well.

And "I'tina"; is from "Al-Itiyan"; meaning: "The coming"; and in the Mushaf of Abdullah: "to guidance clear"; (p-392) and this supports the interpretation of those who interpreted "guidance"; as a true report from Allah - blessed and exalted is He -; and Makki and others have narrated that what is meant by "like that which"; in this verse; is Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr As-Siddiq - may Allah be pleased with him -; and with the companions his father - may Allah be pleased with him -; and his mother.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is weak; because it is in the authentic narration that Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - when she heard the saying of a speaker: Indeed, His saying - the Most High - ﴿And he who said to his parents: Uff to you﴾ [Al-Ahqaf: 17] was revealed about Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him -; she said: "They lied by Allah; nothing has been revealed about us from the Quran except my exoneration."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: My father - may Allah have mercy on him - told me: I heard the jurist Imam Abu Abdullah, known as 'the grammarian', who resides in Mecca, saying: Whoever disputes with one of the heretics, it is appropriate for him to respond to him and to argue with him using the Qur'an and the hadith. He should be like one who calls to guidance with his words: 'Come to us.' And whoever disputes with them through argument and engages them with it, it is as if he has strayed far from the clear path, in order to refute this deviant; for he fears for him that he may go astray.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is a very good extraction.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿Say, 'Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the guidance'﴾; the verse; whoever says: 'Indeed, the companions are among the mocking devils' and interprets ﴿to guidance﴾ as 'by their claim'; he said: 'Indeed, His saying: ﴿Say, 'Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the guidance'﴾ is a refutation against them in their claim; for what they claimed is not correct; and it is not guidance; rather it is itself disbelief and misguidance; and indeed, guidance is the guidance of Allah, the Exalted; and it is faith.' And whoever says: 'Indeed, the companions are on the path that they are called to; and the believers who call the apostates are likened to them; and indeed, guidance is true guidance'; he comes to His saying: ﴿Say, 'Indeed, the guidance of Allah'﴾ meaning: 'Indeed, the call of the companions, even if it is to guidance, is not by their own calling that guidance occurs; rather, only those whom Allah, the Exalted, guides will be guided by that call.'

(p-393) ﴿And we were commanded to submit﴾; the 'lam' is the lam of 'so that'; and with it is 'that' which is implied; and an implied object for 'we were commanded' is estimated; its estimation is: 'and we were commanded to sincerity' or 'to faith' or something like this; thus, the estimation of the entire sentence is: 'and we were commanded to sincerity so that we submit.' And Sibawayh's doctrine in this is that 'to submit' is the place of the object; and that your saying: 'I was commanded to stand' and 'I was commanded that I stand' are equal; and likewise is the saying of the poet:

I intended to forget her mention [but it was as if] ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗................

to other than this from the examples; and 'to submit' encompasses religion and submission.