His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Or do you have oaths upon us reaching until the Day of Resurrection? Indeed, for you is what you judge." "Ask them which of them is a guarantor for that." "Or do they have partners? Let them bring their partners if they are truthful." "The Day when the leg will be uncovered and they will be called to prostration, but they will not be able to." "Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them, and they used to be called to prostration while they were safe." "So leave Me and whoever denies this narration. We will gradually lead them from where they do not know." "And I will give them respite. Indeed, My plan is firm."

His saying, the Most High: "Or do you have oaths upon us reaching until the Day of Resurrection?" is an address to the disbelievers, as if He is saying: Did We make an oath to you that is a covenant for you that We will grant you ease on the Day of Resurrection and what comes after it? The majority of the reciters read: "reaching" in the nominative as an attribute of "oaths," while Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan read: "reaching" in the accusative as a state, which is a state from an indefinite noun specified by His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "upon us." Al-A'raj read: "Is it indeed for you?" And likewise in what has preceded in His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Indeed, for you is what you choose."

Then Allah, exalted and glorified is He, commanded Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him - for the purpose of establishing the proof against them - to ask them who is their guarantor for that. The guarantor is the one who guarantees the matter and is responsible for it.

Then He, the Exalted, stopped them regarding the matter of the partners, perhaps they might think that they benefit them in something of this. Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn Abi 'Abla read: "Or do they have partners? Let them bring their partners" with a broken 'sheen' without an 'alif'. The intended meaning by that - in both readings - is the idols. And His saying, the Exalted: "Let them bring their partners" it is said: it is a summons and a stopping in this world, meaning: let them present them so that we may see whether they are in the state of one who harms and benefits or not. It is said: it is a summons and a stopping for them to bring them on the Day of Resurrection, the Day when the leg is uncovered. And His saying, the Exalted: "The Day when the leg is uncovered", Mujahid said: it is the first hour of the Resurrection, and it is the most terrifying. And there is a narration from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "A caller will call on the Day of Resurrection: Let everyone follow what they used to worship. Then those who used to worship the sun will follow the sun, and those who used to worship the moon will follow the moon, and likewise every worshiper of every object of worship. Then this nation will remain, and the dust of the People of the Book will be with them, along with their hypocrites and many of the disbelievers. It will be said to them: What is your matter? Why do you stand while the people have gone? They will say: We are waiting for our Lord. Then Allah will come to them in a form other than the one they recognized Him by, and He will say: I am your Lord. They will say: We seek refuge with Allah from You. He will say: Do you recognize Him by a sign that you see? They will say: Yes. Then He will uncover His leg for them, and they will say: Yes, You are our Lord, and they will fall down in prostration. Every believer will prostrate, and the backs of the hypocrites and disbelievers will become like the backs of cattle, one solid bone, and they will not be able to prostrate." This is the narration, even if the wording differs with additions and omissions. And in every aspect of what I mentioned, the uncovering of the leg and what is in the verse also indicates that it is merely an expression of the severity of the horror and the greatness of the power that Allah, the Exalted, will show on that day, until knowledge is established that this power belongs solely to Allah, the Exalted. And from this meaning is the saying of the poet regarding the description of war:

"It uncovered its leg for them, and the evil was made clear."

And from it is the saying of another:

"It has bared its leg, so prepare yourselves..."

And the saying of another:

"In a year that has uncovered its leg, a red one that strips the flesh from its bones."

The origin of this is that whoever intends seriousness in a matter he is trying to accomplish, he uncovers his leg in determination and seriousness. And the poets have praised this meaning, from which is the saying of Duraid:

"Like the hem of a garment, half of his leg is uncovered, steadfast against the enemies, a seeker of aid."

And thus, whoever intends seriousness and determination in the obedience of Allah, the Exalted, he said, peace and blessings be upon him: "The garment of the believer is up to the middle of his leg."

And the majority of the people read: "yukshafu" with a dammah on the ya, following the form of the verb for the passive. Ibn Mas'ud read: "yakshifu" with a fathah on the ya and a kasrah on the sheen, meaning: Allah uncovers. Ibn Abbas also read: "takshifu" with a fathah on the ta, meaning that the Day of Resurrection is the uncovering. Ibn Abbas also read: "tukshafu" with a dammah on the ta, meaning: the Resurrection and the severity of the present situation are uncovered. Al-Akhfash reported from him that he read: "nakshifu" with a nun that is open and a kasrah on the sheen, and this was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And they will be called" appears to indicate that there is a call to prostration. This is refuted by what has been established in the Shari'ah that the Hereafter is not a place of action, and that there is no obligation in it. If this is the case, then the caller is what they see from the prostration of the believers, and they want to prostrate at that time but cannot. Some scholars have gone to the opinion that they are called to prostration in the sense of reproach. Some people have derived from His saying, the Exalted: "and they will not be able" that they were able to do so before that, and this is not necessary. And the belief of the Ash'ariyyah is that the ability only exists with the engagement in the action, not before it. This amount is sufficient from this issue here.

And "khashi'atan" is in the accusative as a state, and all their limbs are humble, meaning: submissive. However, He, the Exalted, specified the eyes in the mention because humility in them is clearer than in any other limb. And His saying, the Exalted: "a disgrace will cover them" means: it will disturb their souls and appear upon them in a way that humiliates them. And His saying, glorified is He: "and they were called to prostration" means in the abode of this world while they were safe from what had afflicted their backs from connection and arrogance. Some of the interpreters said: prostration here is a metaphor for all acts of obedience, and He specified prostration in the mention because it is the greatest of acts of obedience, and because through it their trial occurred in the Hereafter. Ibrahim al-Taymi and al-Sha'bi said: He meant by prostration the obligatory prayers. Ibn Jubair said: the meaning is that they used to hear the call to prayer and "come to success" but did not respond. And Al-Rabi' ibn Khaytham would guide between two men to the mosque, and it was said to him: you are excused, and he said: whoever hears "come to success" should respond even if crawling. And it was said to Ibn al-Musayyib: there is an intruder who wants to kill you, so stay in your house. He said: should I hear "come to success" and not respond? By Allah, I will not do that. And all of this is close to one another.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So leave Me and whoever denies this saying" is a threat. There was no barrier, but it is as you say: "Leave me with so-and-so," meaning: I will punish him. And "whoever" is in the accusative case, either as a conjunction to the pronoun in "leave Me," or it is in the accusative case as a direct object with it. And the "saying" referred to is the Qur'an, which informs of these unseen matters. And "istidraj" is the carrying from one rank to another until the carried one reaches evil. Indeed, istidraj is only used in evil, and it is derived from "darj." Sufyan al-Thawri said: "Blessings are poured upon them, and they withhold gratitude." And another said: "Whenever they increase in sin, they are increased in blessings." In the meaning of istidraj is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, Allah, exalted is He, gives respite to the wrongdoer until when He seizes him, he does not escape." And Al-Hasan said: "How many are those who are led into error by kindness towards them and are deceived by concealment of their sins."

And "I give them respite" means: I delay them for a period of time, which is the moment and the interval. It is said: "milaawah" with the 'meem' pronounced in the three ways: with a dammah, fatha, and kasrah. And "the plot" is an expression of the punishment that befalls the disbelievers from where it is a plot from them. Thus, the punishment is named after the sin. And "the firm" is the strong one who has firmness, and from it is "matan": the back.