'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿And when Ibrahim said to his father Azar, 'Do you take idols as gods? Indeed, I see you and your people in clear error.'﴾ ﴿And thus We showed Ibrahim the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and that he would be among the certain.﴾ The operative word in 'And when' is an implied verb; its estimation is: 'Remember' or 'Narrate.' Al-Tabari said: Allah - glorified and exalted is He - alerted Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - to follow the example of Ibrahim - peace be upon him - in his argument with his people, as they were people of idols; and the people of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - were people of idols. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is not necessitated by the wording of the verse; however, all that comes from such is subject to emulation. The seven reciters and the majority of the people read: 'Azar' with the hamzah before the alif being pronounced open, and the zay and the ra being pronounced open. Al-Suddi, Ibn Ishaq, and Sa'id ibn Abdul Aziz said: It is the name of Ibrahim's father. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It has been established that his name is 'Tarakh'; thus, he has two names according to this saying, like 'Yaqub' and 'Israel.' It is in the grammatical structure, according to this, an apposition of the father being added; in a state of genitive; and it is a proper noun. Mujahid said: Rather, it is the name of an idol; and it is in a state of accusative due to an implied verb; its estimation is: 'Do you take Azar? Do you take idols?' Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: There is weakness in this. Some of them said: Rather, it is an adjective; and its meaning is: the crooked, the mistaken. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is objectionable because if 'Azar' is an adjective, it is indefinite; and it is not permissible to describe the definite with the indefinite; and this can be directed towards a strained interpretation by saying: The alif and lam were added to it, even if not pronounced; and to this, Al-Zajjaj referred, as he estimated that and said: 'To his mistaken father'; and by saying: Indeed, that is a detached accusative due to a verb; its estimation is: 'I condemn the crooked' or 'the mistaken'; and the adjective does not remain in this state. Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is weak; and it was said: Its accusative is due to a state; as if he said: 'And when Ibrahim said to his father; and he is in a state of crookedness and error.'

And Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Ibn Abbas, and Al-Hasan, and Mujahid, and others read with a Dhamma on the letter 'ra' in the call. It is also correct - along with this - that 'Azar' is the name of the father of Ibrahim - peace be upon him - and it is correct that it means: 'the crooked' and 'the wrongdoer.' Al-Dahhak said: 'Azar' means: 'something.' And it is not correct with this reading that 'Azar' is an adjective. In the Mushaf of Ubayy - may Allah be pleased with him - it is: 'O Azar' with the presence of the letter of calling; 'You have taken idols' in the past tense. Ibn Abbas also read - as narrated from him -: 'A'zaratan you take?' with the 'alif' of interrogation, and the opening of the hamza in 'A'zaratan,' and the sukoon on the 'zay,' and the accusative of the 'ra' with its tanween, and the dropping of the 'alif' of interrogation from 'Do you take?' The meaning of this reading is: 'A support, and strength, and assistance against Allah, the Exalted; do you take...?' And it is similar to His saying, the Exalted: 'Strengthen me with it' [Ta-Ha: 31]. Abu Ismail - a man from the people of Ash-Sham - read with the breaking of the hamza from this arrangement; Abu Al-Futuh mentioned it. Its meaning is that it is substituted from a 'waw,' like 'wisadah' and 'isadah.' So it is as if he said: 'Or a burden and a sin, do you take idols?' And its accusative - on this - is by an implied verb. It was also narrated from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - and Al-Amash read: 'Izaratan you take?' with the breaking of the hamza and the sukoon on the 'zay,' without the 'alif' of stopping; and 'idols as deities' as two objects.

And it was mentioned that Azar, the father of Ibrahim - peace be upon him - was a skilled carpenter and engineer. Nimrod was concerned with engineering and stars, so Azar had a favor with him for that. He was in charge of the work of the idols, which were made by his command and management. He would stamp the idol with a known seal of his. At that time, that idol would be worshipped. When Ibrahim - peace be upon him - his son grew up - in the manner that will come later - his father would assign him to sell them. So Ibrahim - peace be upon him - would call out: 'Who will buy what harms him and does not benefit him?' and he would belittle them, and he would place them in water upside down and say: 'Drink!' When his matter became famous for that, and he began - peace be upon him - to call to Allah, the Exalted, he said to his father this saying.

And 'I see you' - in this context - involves both sight and heart, because it is the vision of the heart and its knowledge. It is based on the vision of the sight, and 'clear' means: obvious, apparent. It is from 'the thing became clear' when it appeared; it is not from the transitive verb transferred from: 'bana, yabinu.'

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It is correct that it could be transferred, and that the object is implied; its estimation is: 'In clear misguidance, your disbelief.' And it was said: Azar was a man from the people of 'Kawth,' from the blackness of Kufa. Al-Naqqash said: And Ibrahim - peace be upon him - was born there; and it was said: He was from the people of 'Harran.'

And His saying, the Most High, "And thus We show Ibrahim the dominion of the heavens and the earth"; the preceding verse indicates the guidance of Ibrahim - peace be upon him -; and the reference here with "that" is to that guidance; meaning: "And just as We guided him to call to Allah, the Most High, and to deny disbelief; We showed him the dominion..."; and "We show"; its wording indicates the present; and its meaning is the continuation; and Al-Mahdawi reported that the meaning is: "And just as We guided you, O Muhammad; so likewise We show Ibrahim...".

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And this is far-fetched; for the wording does not give it; and "We show"; here is transitive to two objects; and nothing else; it is either from the sight of the eye; or from "I see"; which means "I inform"; and if it were from "I see"; meaning "I know"; and we made "I know" derived from "I knew"; which is transitive to two objects; it would have to be that "I see"; is transitive to three objects; and this is not the case; nor is it correct to say: that the third is omitted; because it is not permissible to omit it; as it is the news in the sentence that "I knew" enters upon; in this context; rather it is from "I knew"; meaning "I recognized"; then the hamzah was transferred; so it became transitive to two objects; then "I see" was made in its place; in this situation.

And this vision: it was said: the vision of the eye; and it has been narrated that Allah - Mighty and Majestic - opened for Ibrahim - peace be upon him - the heavens and the earth; until he saw with his eye the supreme dominion; and the lower dominion; and if this narration is correct; then it specifies Ibrahim - peace be upon him - with what no one else comprehended before him; nor after him; and this is the saying of Mujahid; he said: "The heavens and the earth were opened for him; and he saw his place in Paradise"; and with this said Sa'id ibn Jubair; and Salman the Persian; and it was said: it is the vision of sight in the apparent dominion; and he had with it from consideration; and the vision of the heart; what did not occur to anyone from the people of his time; those to whom he was sent - peace be upon him -; this was said by Ibn Abbas; and others; so in this there is a specification in terms of the restriction to the people of his time; and it was said: it is the vision of the heart; with which he saw the dominion of the heavens and the earth; with his thought; and his gaze; and that - without a doubt - is based on what has preceded from his vision - peace be upon him - with his eye; and his perception in general with his senses.

Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And these last two sayings are appropriate to the verse; because the goal that was set for him is only that he should believe; and be among the multitude of the certain ones; and the reference - undoubtedly - is to those before him from the prophets; and the believers; and after him; and certainty occurs for him - peace be upon him - and for others by the vision in the apparent dominion; and the inference from it to the Creator; and the Maker; there is no deity except Him.

'Malakut' is a form of exaggeration, like 'Jabarut', 'Rahabut', and 'Rahamut'. And 'Ikrimah said: it is 'Malakuthi' in Greek or in Nabataean. And he read 'Malakuth' with a three-pointed 'th'. And Abu al-Sammal read 'Malakut' with the 'l' being silent; this is a dialect. And 'Malakut' means 'the kingdom'. The Arabs say: 'So-and-so has the malakut of Yemen', meaning: his kingdom.

And the 'l' in 'wa liyakuna' is related to a delayed action; its estimation is: 'And let him be among the certain ones we showed him'. And 'the certain one' is the one who knows a thing with knowledge that cannot be subject to doubt. And Al-Dahhak and Mujahid also said: the reference here to 'the malakut of the heavens' is to the stars, the sun, and the moon. This is related to what we have previously mentioned about it being a vision of sight in the apparent malakut. And it has been narrated from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - in the interpretation of 'wa liyakuna min al-muqinina' - he said: He made clear to him matters, both their secrets and their public aspects; nothing of the actions of the creatures was hidden from him. So when he began to curse the people of sins, Allah, the Exalted, said: 'Indeed, you cannot see this.' So he was prevented from seeing their actions.