His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written in their Torah and Gospel. He commands them with what is good and forbids them from what is evil. He makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the foul things. And He relieves them of their burden and the shackles that were upon them. So those who believe in him, honor him, support him, and follow the light that was sent down with him, it is they who are the successful."

These words exclude the Jews and Christians from the association that appears in His saying: "So I will write it for those who fear [Allah]" [Al-A'raf: 156]. This number is reserved for the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. This was said by Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jubair, and others.

And "they follow" means: in his law and religion. The "Messenger" and "Prophet" are two names for two meanings. The Messenger is more specific than the Prophet. This is in relation to human beings due to the shared authority in the term of Messenger. The Prophet is derived from news, and it is said: since he is a path to the mercy of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and a cause, he is likened to the Prophet who is the path. They recited:

"If only the sound of the pebbles would become a rhythm, Where the Prophet is from the writer."

And its origin is the hamzah, but it has been softened, as Sibawayh said. This is like their softening of khabiyah, which is one who hides. And its softening has been used until it has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Do not raise my name." The Messenger was mentioned first due to the emphasis on the meaning of the message for those addressed by the Qur'an. Otherwise, the meaning of Prophethood is the preceding one. Likewise, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, responded to Al-Bara' ibn Azib when he said: "I believe in Your Book that You revealed, and in Your Messenger that You sent." He said to him, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "And in Your Prophet that You sent," so that the words would be arranged as the matter is arranged in itself, because he was informed and then sent. Also, in the repeated expression, there is a reiteration of the message, and it is one meaning.

And "the unlettered" with the hamzah being pronounced, it is said: a reference to the Mother of Cities, which is Mecca.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this term is specific to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and does not imply the meaning of illiteracy. It is said that he is attributed to the mother, meaning he is in the state of being unlettered, as he comes from the mother in the absence of writing. A group said: he is attributed to the Ummah, and this also implies the absence of writing, for the Ummah as a whole is not literate until writing occurs in it like other crafts. And some of the reciters read, as Abu Hatim mentioned: "the unlettered" with the hamzah being opened, and it is attributed to the mother, which is the intended meaning, meaning that this Prophet is a destination for the people and a place of a mother whom they turn to with their actions and their legislation. Ibn Jinni said: This reading could imply the unlettered, thus changing the attribution.

The pronoun in His saying: "they will find him" refers to the Children of Israel, and the "him" therein refers to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. What is meant is his attribute and description. It has been narrated that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said to Musa: "Tell the Children of Israel: I will make the land a place of worship and purification for you, and I will place tranquility with you in your homes, and I will make you recite the Torah from the depths of your hearts." Musa informed the Children of Israel, and they said: "We only want to pray in the churches, and for tranquility to be as it was in the Ark, and that we do not recite the Torah except by looking at it." It was said to them: "Then we will write it for those who are God-fearing," meaning the nation of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. It has been narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, in Al-Bukhari and others that in the Torah there is a description of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him: "O Prophet, indeed We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good tidings, and a warner, and a protector for the unlettered. You are My servant and My Messenger. I have named you Al-Mutawakkil. You are not harsh nor rude, nor a loudmouth in the markets, and you do not repay evil with evil, but you pardon and overlook. I will not take him until I establish through him the crooked religion by them saying there is no deity except Allah, and we will establish through him hearts that are sealed, and ears that are deaf, and eyes that are blind." In Al-Bukhari: "And we will open through him blind eyes, deaf ears, and sealed hearts."

The text of Ka'b al-Ahbar is similar to these words except that he said: "sealed hearts, and deaf ears." Al-Tabari said: It is a Himyari language, and it has been narrated as "ghulufiya and sumumiya."

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: I think this is an error and a misinterpretation.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿He commands them with what is right and forbids them from what is wrong﴾ can be understood as beginning with a description of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. It can also be understood as being related to "they will find him" in a figurative sense, meaning: they will find him in the Torah commanding under the condition of his existence. The first meaning does not imply that they knew from the Torah that he commands them and forbids them and makes lawful and unlawful, while the second meaning implies that. The second meaning, on this basis, is a reproach against them, and Abu Ishaq Al-Zajjaj inclined towards this. Abu Ali Al-Farisi said in "Al-Aghfal": "He commands them" in my view is an interpretation of what has been written of his mention, just as His saying, the Exalted: ﴿He created him from dust﴾ [Al-Imran: 59] is an interpretation of the parable, and it is not permissible for it to be a state of the pronoun in "they will find him" because the pronoun is for the mention and the name, and the mention and the name do not command.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: What I have presented regarding the figurative sense and the condition of existence is close to what Abu Ali prevented. And look, and "with what is right" is what the Sharia has recognized, and every good deed from the perspective of nobility is recognized by the Sharia, for he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I have been sent to perfect good character," and "what is wrong" is its opposite.

'The pure things' - some of the interpreters said about it: it is an indication of the bahirah and similar things. The school of Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, is that they are the permissible things. So it is as if he described them as pure since it is a term that includes praise and honor. According to this, he says about 'the impure things' that they are the prohibited things. Likewise, Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said: the impure things are the flesh of pigs, usury, and others. Based on this, Malik permitted the repulsive things such as snakes, scorpions, and similar creatures. The school of Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, is that the pure things are in terms of food, except that the term for him is not in its generality because its generality in this regard of food would necessitate the permissibility of wine and pork. Rather, he sees it as specific to what the Shari'ah has permitted. He sees the impure things as a general term for the prohibited things in the Shari'ah and in the repulsive things, so he prohibits scorpions, beetles, and the like. The people are on these two sayings, except that there is a difference in specifying the impure things, which is not the place for detailing it.

And His saying, the Exalted: 'And He removes from them their burdens' - the word 'removes' was expected to be 'removes' with a kasrah on the dhad, but the letter of the throat returned it to a fathah on the dhad. Abu Hatim said: Abu Amr merged 'removes from them' the 'ayn' into the 'ayn'. And he raised it and Abu Ja'far and Shaiba and Nafi' made it full. Talhah read: 'And He takes away from them their burdens.' And the burden is the weight, and with it, Qatadah, Ibn Jubayr, and Mujahid interpreted it here. The burden is also the covenant, and with it, Ibn Abbas, and Al-Dahhak, and Al-Hasan, and others interpreted it. This verse combined both meanings, for the Children of Israel had been taken on a covenant to perform heavy deeds, and that covenant and the weight of those deeds were removed from them by Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Abu Hatim narrated from Ibn Jubayr who said: the burden is the severity of worship. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, Asim, Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and the people read: 'their burden.' Ibn Amer alone, and Ayyub Al-Sakhtiyani, and Ya'la ibn Hakim, and Abu Siraj Al-Hudhali, and Abu Ja'far read: 'their burdens' in the plural. When the deeds are many, their weights differ. And whoever unified the burden, it is merely a singular noun intended to mean the plural. Abu Hatim said: in the book of some scholars: 'their burdens' is singular with an open hamzah from Nafi', and Isa, and Al-Zayyat, and that is an error. And Makki mentioned from Abu Bakr from Asim and said: it is a language.

'And the chains which were upon them' is also a borrowed expression for those weights, like cutting the skin from the effect of urine, and that there is no blood money, and there must be killing for the killer, and leaving work on Saturday. For it has been narrated that Musa, peace be upon him, saw a man carrying a stick on Saturday and he struck his neck. This is the saying of the majority of the interpreters. And this is like your saying: 'So-and-so's collar is like this' if he is obliged to it, and from it is the saying of the poet:

'Go with it, go with it, ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ you have been burdened with the burden of the dove'

meaning: you are obliged to its shame. (p-65) And from this meaning is the saying of Al-Hudhali:

So it is not like the covenant of the house, O Um Malik. But chains have surrounded the necks. And the young man returned like an old man, not saying anything except the truth, so the reproachers found rest. He means by saying the commands of Islam and the requirements of faith, which have bound the young man, as he said, blessings and peace be upon him. Ibn Zayd said: What is meant here by the shackles is the saying of Allah, the Exalted, regarding the Jews: 'Their hands are shackled' [Al-Ma'idah: 64]. So whoever believes in Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, the call and its binding are removed from him. Then Allah, the Exalted, informed about the state of the believers, saying: 'Those who believed in him and honored him and supported him.' Al-Jahdari, Sulayman al-Taymi, Qatadah, and Isa read 'honored him' with a lightening of the letter. The majority of the people read it with emphasis on the zay. Its meaning in both readings is that they honored him. Honor and support are a specific observation for the companions, and following the light is shared by the believers with them until the Day of Resurrection. The light is a metaphor for the entirety of the Shari'ah. His saying: 'with him' has an omitted addition, and the estimation is: with his mission or prophethood or something like that. The Shari'ah and guidance are likened to light, as the hearts are illuminated by it just as sight is illuminated by light. And 'the successful' means those who achieve their desire. This encompasses the meanings of success, for whoever remains has indeed succeeded in achieving his desire.