'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Or do you ask them for a reward, so they are burdened with a debt?﴾ ﴿Or do they have knowledge of the unseen, so they write?﴾ ﴿So be patient for the judgment of your Lord, and do not be like the companion of the fish when he called out while he was distressed.﴾ ﴿If it had not been for a favor from his Lord that reached him, he would have been thrown onto the bare ground while he was blamed.﴾ ﴿So his Lord chose him and made him among the righteous.﴾ ﴿And indeed, those who disbelieved were almost causing you to slip with their eyes when they heard the reminder, and they said, 'Indeed, he is a madman.'﴾ ﴿And it is nothing but a reminder for the worlds.﴾

This 'Or' which includes a shift from the first statement is not in the sense of rejecting it, but rather in the sense of leaving it and turning to something else. This pause is for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and it is intended to admonish the disbelievers. For if he had asked them for a reward and their failure to provide it burdened them, they would have had some excuse for their aversion and decision.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Or do they have knowledge of the unseen, so they write?﴾ means: Do they have knowledge of what will happen, so they claim that the matter is proceeding according to their choice?

Then He commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, to be patient for His judgment, and to proceed with what He commanded regarding conveying the message and enduring harm and hardship. He prohibited him from the impatience and haste that Yunus, peace be upon him, fell into. Then He mentioned the story briefly and referred to what happened at the end of it, from his calling out from the belly of the fish while he was distressed, meaning: his anger in his chest. The reality of 'distress' is anger, sadness, and regret. So he carried the 'distressed' in a figurative sense, and in reality, he is a 'distresser.' An example of this is the saying of Dhī al-Rummah:

And you, from the love of Mayy, are secretly suffering sadness, the heart is wounded, and the heart is distressed.

And Al-Naqqash said: The 'distressed' is one who has taken to suppressing his distress, and it is in accordance with the heart. From this, it is named 'the suppressor,' which is the channel in the ground.

And the majority of people read: 'If it had not been for a favor that reached him,' attributing the verb without a sign of femininity, because the femininity of the favor is not real. Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and Ibn Abbas read: 'If it had not been for a favor that reached her,' showing the sign. Ibn Hurmuz read: 'If it had not been for a favor that reached him,' with a strong 'd' indicating: it reaches him, and it is a narrative of a state that comes, and therefore the verb is in the future tense. Meaning: If it is said about him: a favor from his Lord reaches him, and similar to this is His saying, exalted is He: (And he found in it two men killing). This is the aspect of this reading, then the 't' was merged into the 'd.' And 'the favor' is pardon and repentance, and the choosing that was previously for him, and 'the bare ground' is the vast land in which there is nothing to cover from buildings or vegetation or anything else from a mountain or similar to it, and from this is the saying of the poet:

So I raised a leg, fearing not its stumble, and I cast my clothes onto the bare ground.

And indeed, Yunus, peace be upon him, cast away on the bare land without blame. And "He chose him" means: He selected him and appointed him. Then Allah, the Most High, informed His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, of the state of the disbelievers' gaze upon him. They were about to slip him from his place out of rage and enmity and bring him down. The majority of the reciters read: "They will slip you" with a dammah on the yaa, from "azalaqa". Nafi' alone read: "They will slip you" with a fathah on the yaa from "zaliqatir-rijlu". It is said: "Zaliqatir-rijlu" - with a kasrah of the laam - and "zalqatuhu" with a fathah - similar to: "hazana" and "hazanatuhu", and "shataratil-'ainu" and "shatarat-ha". In the mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, it is: "They will cause you to perish" with a ha. Al-Nakha'i narrated that in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud it is: "They will exhaust you". In this meaning, which they perceive from rage and enmity, is the saying of the poet:

They exchange glances when they meet in a gathering A gaze that removes the footprints.

And a group of the interpreters, mentioned by Al-Farra', said that the meaning is: They will harm you with the evil eye. He mentioned that the evil eye was among the Children of Israel. Ibn al-Kalbi said: There was a man who would go hungry for three days, then he would not speak of anything except that he would afflict it with the evil eye. The disbelievers asked him to afflict the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and he responded to them in that, but Allah, the Most High, protected His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Zajjaj said: The Arabs, when one of them wanted to harm someone, would go hungry for three days. Al-Hasan said: The remedy for one who has been afflicted by the evil eye is to recite this verse, and "the remembrance" in the verse is the Qur'an. Then Allah, the Most High, affirmed that this glorious Qur'an is a remembrance for the worlds of jinn and mankind, and a counsel for them, and a proof against them. So praise be to Allah, who has bestowed it upon us and made us its people and bearers, and there is no Lord other than Him.

The interpretation of Surah [Al-Qalam] has been completed, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.