His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Then I will surely come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and you will not find most of them grateful." "He said, 'Get out of it, despised and expelled. Whoever follows you among them, I will surely fill Hell with you all.'" This is a confirmation from Iblis that he strives to mislead the children of Adam. This was not the case until Iblis knew that Allah, the Exalted, would place a vicegerent on earth. He knew that it was Adam - peace be upon him -; otherwise, there would be no way for him to know the descendants of Adam - peace be upon him - from the words of these verses. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: The purpose of this verse is that Iblis informed about himself that he would come to mislead the son of Adam from every direction and on every path. He corrupts for him what he can of his beliefs, makes him forget his good deeds for the Hereafter, and entices him with the evil deeds of this world. He expressed this with words that imply encompassing them. And in the wording, there is a metaphor. This is the saying of a group of the interpreters. Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - said in what was narrated from him: He meant by his saying: "From before them"; the Hereafter; "and from behind them"; this world; "and on their right"; the truth; "and on their left"; the falsehood. Ibn Abbas also said in what was narrated from him: "From before them"; it is this world; "and from behind them"; it is the Hereafter; "and on their right"; the good deeds; "and on their left"; the bad deeds. Mujahid said: "From before them and on their right"; its meaning is: where they can see; and "and from behind them and on their left"; where they cannot see. And His saying: "And you will not find most of them grateful"; he informed that his effort will do that; based on his assumption; and delusion regarding the creation of Adam - peace be upon him - when he saw his creation, from various things; he knew that they would have traits that necessitate their obedience to him, like envy, jealousy, and desires, and similar things. Ibn Abbas and Qatadah said: Except that Iblis did not say: He comes to the children of Adam from above them; nor did Allah, the Exalted, grant him a way to intervene between them and the mercy of Allah, the Exalted, and His forgiveness, and His grace. What Iblis thought was confirmed by Allah - glorified and exalted is He -; and from this is His saying - the Exalted -: "And indeed, Iblis had confirmed his assumption about them, so they followed him except for a party among the believers." [Saba: 20] So he made most of the world disbelievers; and this is clarified by the saying of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - in the hadith: "Allah - blessed and exalted is He - will say on the Day of Resurrection: (O Adam! Bring forth the delegation of the Fire); and he will say: O my Lord! What is the delegation of the Fire? He will say: (From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine will go to the Fire, and one will go to Paradise); and similar to that, regarding the nation of Muhammad - peace be upon him -; "You are in the nations like a white hair on a black bull."

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And his saying - blessings and peace be upon him -: "like a hair"; it is possible that he means a single hair; and this is unlikely; because the context of the first hadith refutes it; and it is possible that he means - blessings and peace be upon him - the hair that is for the genus; and the intent is to compare them to a black bull; in which a single white hair has grown amidst its blackness; and it is possible that he means the shine from the white hair; and this is far-fetched.

And his saying: "grateful ones"; its meaning is: believers; because the son of Adam does not thank the blessing of Allah, the Exalted, except by believing; this was said by Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - and others.

And His saying, the Exalted: "He said, 'Get out of it'"; the pronoun in "from it" refers back to Paradise; and "blamed"; its meaning is: defective; it is said: "he blamed him"; if he criticized him; and from it is "the blame"; and it is the defect; and in the proverb: "The beautiful one will not be without a blamer"; meaning a defect; and the hamzah has been made easy in it; and from it is the saying of Qail of Himyar: "You intended to blame him, so you praised him"; meaning: "so you praised him"; and Al-Tabari narrated that this verse is recited:

I accompanied you while my eyes were veiled So when it cleared, I cut my breath blaming it.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: And the famous narration is: "I blame her"; and from the evidence in the wording is the saying of Al-Kumayt:

And they are the closest to every good And they are the farthest from every blamer.

And from the evidence in "driven away"; is the saying of the poet:

And I drove the sons of Al-Husayb to Qadid And they were of high status and pride.

And Al-Zuhri, Abu Ja'far, and Al-Amash read in this verse: "blamed"; with the facilitation; and "driven away"; its meaning is: excluded, distanced; and a group read: "for whoever follows you"; with the opening of the lam; and this is the lam of the oath; which removes the speech from doubt to the oath; and Asim Al-Jahdari and Al-Amash read: "for whoever follows you"; with the breaking of the lam; and the meaning is: "for the sake of whoever follows you, I will surely fill Hell with you all"; so he included him in the warning with them; by the ruling of this kaf in "from you."