His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "Call upon your Lord with humility and in secret. Indeed, He does not like the transgressors." "And do not cause corruption in the land after its reformation. And call upon Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good." This is a command to pray; and an act of worship through it; then He - glorified and exalted is He - coupled with the command to it attributes that are good with it.

And His saying - exalted is He -: "with humility"; its meaning is: with submissiveness and humility; and "humility" is a term that implies raising one's voice; for humility is only through gestures of limbs and postures of body that accompany the request; and "and in secret"; He means: within oneself specifically; and Allah - glorified and exalted is He - praised that in His saying: "when he called his Lord with a secret call" [Maryam: 3]; and similarly is the saying of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him -: "The best remembrance is the secret one"; and the Shari'ah establishes that the secret in what has not been opposed from acts of righteousness is of greater reward than the public; and some scholars interpreted humility and secrecy as meaning the same as the secret altogether; so it is as if humility is an action of the heart; this good meaning was mentioned by Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan who said: "We have witnessed people that there was no action on earth that they could perform in secret that they would ever perform publicly; and indeed the Muslims would strive in prayer; and no voice would be heard from them; it was only whispers between them and their Lord; and that is because Allah - exalted is He - says: 'Call upon your Lord with humility and in secret'; and he mentioned a righteous servant whose action was pleasing and said: 'when he called his Lord with a secret call' [Maryam: 3]"; and Al-Zajjaj said: "Call upon your Lord" means: worship your Lord; "with humility and in secret"; that is with submissiveness; and believing that in the hearts.

And all seven reciters read: "and in secret"; with a dammah on the khāʾ; and 'Āsim read in the narration of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him - here; and in "Al-An'am": "and in secrecy"; with a kasrah; and these are two dialects; and it has been said that "in secrecy"; with a kasrah on the khāʾ; means: "fear"; and "awe"; and this appears from the words of Abu Ali; and a group read: "and in fear"; from "fear"; that is: "Call upon Him with submissiveness and fear"; Ibn Sidah mentioned it in Al-Muhkam; and did not attribute it; and Abu Hatim said: Al-Amash read it as they claimed.

And His saying - exalted is He -: "Indeed, He does not like the transgressors"; He means: "in supplication"; and although the wording is general; this is the indication; and transgression in supplication has many forms; among them is excessive loudness; and shouting; as the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said to a people - while they raised their voices in takbir -: "O people; be moderate with yourselves; indeed you are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent"; and among them is that a person calls for himself to have the status of a Prophet; or calls in impossible situations; and similar excesses; and among them is that he calls seeking disobedience; and other than that; and in these matters is enough.

Ibn Abi Abla read: "Indeed, Allah does not love the transgressors"; and "the transgressor" is one who exceeds the limit; and commits the prohibition; and one may be distinguished according to what has been transgressed; and it has been narrated from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - that he said: "There will be people who will transgress in supplication; and it is enough for a person to say: O Allah, I ask You for Paradise and for what brings me closer to it of words and deeds; and I seek refuge with You from the Fire and from what brings me closer to it of words and deeds."

And His saying, the Exalted ﴿And do not cause corruption in the land﴾; the verse; the words are general; encompassing all corruption; whether little or much; after reform; whether little or much; and the intent of the prohibition is general; and specifying one thing over another in this is arbitrary; unless it is said as an example; Al-Dahhak said: Its meaning is: Do not corrupt the flowing water; and do not cut down the fruitful trees out of spite; and it has been reported: "Cutting the dinar and dirham is from the corruption in the land"; and it has been said: "The trade of rulers is from the corruption in the land"; and some people said: The intended meaning is: "And do not associate partners in the land after Allah has reformed it by sending the messengers - peace be upon them -; and establishing the laws; and clarifying the religion of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him"; and the one who said this statement intended the greatest corruption after the greatest reform; so he specified it in mention.

And His saying, the Exalted ﴿And call upon Him in fear and aspiration﴾; is a command that a person should be in a state of anticipation; and sadness; and hope in Allah - the Mighty and Majestic -; so that hope and fear are like the two wings of a bird; carrying him on the path of righteousness; and if one of them is alone, the person perishes; and many scholars have said: Fear should prevail over hope throughout life; and when death comes, hope should prevail; and many scholars have seen that fear should be much greater upon a person; and all of this is precaution; and from it is the wish of Al-Hasan Al-Basri that the man who is the last to enter Paradise; and the wish of Salim, the freedman of Abu Hudhayfa; that he be among the companions of the Heights; because his doctrine is that they are sinners.

Then His saying, the Exalted ﴿Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good﴾; for it is a verse of promise; in which there is a restriction by His saying: ﴿to the doers of good﴾; and people have differed regarding the reason for dropping the 'ta' from "near"; in the description of mercy; with various opinions; among them that it is in the sense of lineage; meaning: "a being of closeness"; and among them that since its femininity is not real; it follows the pattern of "a hand that is stained"; and "a beard that is oily"; and among them that it is in a masculine meaning; so the description was mentioned for that; and the people of this statement have differed in determining the masculine that it is a substitute for; so one group said: forgiveness and pardon; and another group said: rain; and others have said otherwise; and Al-Farra said: "The term 'closeness' when used in lineage; and kinship; is feminine with a 'ta'; and it must be; and when it is used in proximity of distance; [it is masculine; and feminine].

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: Or "time"; it can come with a feminine form with a تاء; and it can come without a تاء; and this is from it; and from this is the saying of the poet:

In the evening, there is no close distance from you, So it draws near, and there is no far distance from you.

He combined in this verse between the two forms.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This is the saying of Al-Farra' in his book; and it has been mentioned in some of the books of the interpreters in a constrained manner; and Al-Zajjaj (p-584) refuted this saying; and Abu Ubaidah said: "Close"; in the verse; is not an attribute for mercy; rather it is a circumstance for it; and a location; so it can come like this in the feminine, and the dual, and the plural; and likewise "far"; so if they make it an attribute meaning "nearby"; they say: "close"; and "two close"; and "close ones"; and Al-Tabari mentioned that His saying, the Exalted, "close"; is intended to mean the proximity of souls to bodies; that is: at that time, they will receive mercy.