His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And those whom you call upon besides Him are not able to aid you, nor can they help themselves." "And if you call them to guidance, they do not hear, and you see them looking at you while they do not see." "Take what is given freely, and enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant." "And if an evil whisper from the devil should provoke you, seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing."

The pronoun in His saying: "besides Him" refers back to the name of Allah, the Most High. This pronoun clarifies what we have mentioned about the weakness of the reading of those who recited: "Indeed, my ally is Allah" as if it refers to Jibril, blessings and peace be upon him. This verse also indicates the state of those idols, their corruption, and their inability to aid themselves, let alone others.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And if you call them..." The group said: The address is to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the 'he' and 'them' in His saying: "you call them" refers to the disbelievers. Their description of not hearing and not seeing is because they do not gain any benefit from sight and hearing, nor do they achieve anything from it. This was said by Al-Suddi and Mujahid. Al-Tabari said: The intended referent of the mentioned pronoun is the idols, and their description of looking is a metaphor for facing and confronting, and what is in it is the illusion of sight, as when you say: The house of so-and-so looks at the house of so-and-so. The meaning of the verse, on this basis, is to clarify the stagnation of the idols and their insignificance. Some of the Mu'tazila went to argue with this verse that the servants look at their Lord but do not see Him, and they have no proof in the verse because the sight of the idols is purely metaphorical.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The repetition of the saying in this and the recurrence of the verses about it is because the matter of the idols and their veneration was firmly established in the souls of the Arabs at that time and was dominant over their minds. Thus, the speech was comprehensive in that as a kindness from Allah, the Most High, towards them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Take what is given freely..." is a command from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that encompasses all of his nation, and it is a command regarding all noble morals. The majority said regarding His saying, glorified is He: "Take what is given freely": Its meaning is: Accept from people in their morals, words, and interactions what comes freely without obligation. So, 'what is given freely' here means the favor and the pure that comes without hesitation. This was said by Abdullah ibn Al-Zubair in the compilation of Al-Bukhari, and it was said by Mujahid and Urwah. From this is the saying of Hatim Al-Ta'i:

"Take what is given freely from me, and you will maintain my affection, And do not speak ill of me when I am angry."

And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, Al-Dahhak, and Al-Suddi said: This verse is about wealth, and it was said: It is before the obligation of zakat. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded to take what is easy from the wealth of the people, and 'what is given freely' means: it has increased and multiplied, from their saying: "The plant and hair have flourished," meaning they have increased. Then the obligation of zakat and its limits were revealed, which abrogated this verse. Al-Makki mentioned from Mujahid that "Take what is given freely" means: Take the obligatory zakat.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this is an odd opinion.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And enjoin what is good﴾ means: with all that which the souls have recognized of it that the Shari'ah does not reject. It has been narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Jibril: "What is this good that you have been commanded with?" He said: "I do not know until I ask the scholar." He returned to his Lord and asked Him, then he came back and said to him: "O Muhammad, it is to give to the one who deprived you, to maintain ties with the one who cut you off, and to pardon the one who wronged you."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This establishes the goals; and the intended meaning is: what is below this in doing good. And 'Isa al-Thaqafi read - as Abu Hatim mentioned - "with good" with the letter 'ra' pronounced with a dammah, and good and goods mean: the recognized.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And turn away from the ignorant﴾ is a ruling that is established and continues among people as long as they remain. This is the opinion of the majority of scholars. Ibn Zayd said regarding His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And take what is given freely﴾ up to ﴿the ignorant﴾: The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded with this to deal gently with the disbelievers of Quraysh, then this was abrogated by the verse of the sword.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And the hadith of al-Hurr ibn Qays when he brought his uncle 'Uyaynah ibn Hisn to 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, is evidence that it is established and continues, for al-Hurr used it as an argument against 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and he confirmed it and stood by it.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And if an evil whisper comes to you from Satan﴾ is a counsel from Allah, blessed and exalted is He, to His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that encompasses his nation, man by man. And whispering is a movement that contains corruption, and it is rarely used except in the actions of Satan because his movements are swift and corrupting. From this is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Let none of you point a weapon at his brother, lest Satan should cause him to stumble in his hand."

So the meaning in this verse is: If an evil whisper from Satan touches you, seek refuge in Allah. And the whispering of Satan is general in anger, in beautifying sins, in acquiring calamities, and other than that. In the Musannaf of al-Tirmidhi, it is narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said: "Indeed, there is a whisper from the angel, and there is a whisper from Satan."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And these two whispers are the thoughts of good and evil. And "All-Hearing" in this verse is suitable with seeking refuge, and it is also suitable with what the disbelievers say of statements that anger Satan for that reason, and "All-Knowing" likewise. And with this verse, Ibn al-Qasim based his saying that seeking refuge during recitation is: "I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Satan."