His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And if they had remained steadfast on the path, We would have given them abundant water." "So that We may test them therein. And whoever turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, We will cause him to enter into a severe punishment." "And that the mosques are for Allah, so do not invoke with Allah anyone." "And when the servant of Allah stood calling upon Him, they were almost upon him in a mass." "Say, 'Indeed, I only call upon my Lord and do not associate with Him anyone.'" "Say, 'Indeed, I do not possess for you harm or guidance.'" "Say, 'Indeed, no one can protect me from Allah, and I will not find for myself any refuge besides Him.'" The pronoun in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "they had remained steadfast". Abu Mijlaz, Al-Farra', Al-Rabi' ibn Anas, Zayd ibn Aslam, and Al-Dahhak - with a difference from him - said: It refers back to His saying, glorified is He: "Whoever submits (Islam)". "The path" is the path of disbelief. If those who have submitted among the people had disbelieved, We would have given them water to fill them and as a means of entrapment. Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Ibn Jubair, and Mujahid said: The pronoun refers back to "the unjust ones", and the meaning is: on the path of Islam and truth. This meaning is similar to His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And if the People of the Book had believed and been conscious of Allah, We would have removed from them their evil deeds" [Al-Ma'idah: 65], and His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And if they had upheld the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to them from their Lord, they would have eaten from above them and from beneath their feet" [Al-Ma'idah: 66]. This is a clearer statement, for the metaphor of steadfastness for disbelief is troubling. Al-A'mash and Ibn Wathab read: "And if they had remained steadfast" with the 'waw' pronounced. Abu Al-Fath said: This is a comparison with the 'waw' of the group: "They have purchased misguidance with guidance" [Al-Baqarah: 16]. The abundant water is the plentiful water. The majority of people read: "abundant" with a fatḥa on the dal, while 'Asim - in the narration of Al-A'mash from him - read it with a kasra.

And His saying, exalted is He: "To test them therein" means: if they are Muslims, it means: to test them. If they are the oppressors, it means: to examine them and lead them astray. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Wherever there is water, there is wealth, and wherever there is wealth, there is trial." He derived this from this verse. Al-Hasan, Ibn al-Musayyib, and a group from the Tabi'in said: The companions were obedient and listening. When the treasures of Kisra and Caesar were opened, Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, was attacked and killed, and trials arose. And "He will cause him to enter" means: He will let him enter. Al-A'sim, Hamzah, and al-Kisai read: "He will cause him to enter" with a fatḥah on the ya, meaning: Allah will cause him to enter. Some of the Tabi'in read: "He will cause him to enter" with a ḍammah on the ya, from 'aslakah, and both have the same meaning. The remaining seven recited: "We will cause him to enter" with the noon of greatness. Ibn Jubayr read: "We will cause him to enter" with a ḍammah on the noon and a kasrah on the lam. And "a difficult ascent" means: hard. You say: "So-and-so is in a difficult ascent of his matter," meaning in hardship. And "this matter is difficult for me." Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Nothing has been as difficult for me as the speech of marriage." Ibn Abbas and Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: "Ascent" is a mountain in the Fire. A group read: "a difficult ascent" with a ḍammah on the sad and the 'ayn. The majority read with a fatḥah on the sad and the 'ayn. Ibn Abbas and al-Hasan read with a ḍammah on the sad and a fatḥah on the 'ayn. Al-Hasan said: Its meaning is: there is no rest in it.

And whoever opens the alif from "And that the mosques are for Allah" makes it an addition to His saying, "Say, it has been revealed to me that..." [Al-Jinn: 1], as mentioned by Sibawayh. And "the mosques" is said to refer to the houses that are for worship and prayer in every religion. Al-Hasan said: He meant every place where one prostrates, whether it is specifically designated for that or not; for the entire earth is a mosque for this nation. It has been narrated that this verse was revealed because of the dominance of Quraysh over the Kaaba at that time. It was said to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him: All places are for Allah, so worship Him wherever you are. Ibn 'Ata said: The mosques are the places where prostration is performed, and one of them is a mosque - with the opening of the jīm. And Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: The verse was revealed because the jinn said: O Messenger of Allah, how can we attend the prayer with you while we are distant from you? So the verse was revealed addressing them with the meaning that your worship is accepted wherever you are. Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad said: The meaning of the verse is: And because the mosques are for Allah, do not call upon anyone else - for this reason. Likewise, in His saying, "For the security of Quraysh... so let them worship"; and likewise in His saying, "Indeed, this is your nation, one nation" [Al-Anbiya: 92]. The designated mosques are clear in their being for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, so it is valid that they are dedicated to prayer, supplication, the reading of knowledge, and all that is purely for Allah, glorified and exalted is He. And that one should not speak of worldly matters in them, nor engage in trade, nor make them pathways, nor should there be any share in them for anyone other than Allah. I have indeed sat to judge among the Muslims in the congregational mosque in Al-Mirya, then I saw in it the bad character of the disputants, their shouting, their oaths, the wickedness of their disputes, and the entry of women, which I did not see as befitting the sanctity of the house, so the sittings for judgments were cut off in it.

And His saying, "And that when the servant of Allah stood calling upon Him" can be understood as a speech from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and it can be understood as a report about the jinn. Some of the reciters read - as previously mentioned - "And that" with the opening of the alif, and this is an addition to His saying, "that he listened." And "the servant" in this reading, some said, refers to Noah, and the pronoun in "they were about to" refers to the jinn, meaning that they were about to fall upon him to listen to the Quran. Others read: "And indeed he" with the hamzah being broken, and "the servant" is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The pronoun in "they were about to" can refer to the jinn in the meaning we mentioned, and it can refer to the disbelievers of his people and the Arabs in their gathering against his command. It cannot be directed that "the servant" is Noah, peace be upon him, except with a strain in interpreting the arrangement of the verse. Ibn Jubayr said: The meaning of the verse is that it is the saying of the jinn to their people, recounting, and "the servant" is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the pronoun in "they were about to" refers to his companions who are inclined towards him and follow him in prayer; they are upon him like a crowd, and the crowd is the groups, likened to something that is piled up, one above the other. Among them is the saying of Abd ibn Manaf ibn Rub'i:

He means by saying the locust, he named it 'janī' because it gathers all things in its entirety. And it is narrated as 'jābī' with a 'bā' because it collects things by its eating.

Ibn Abbas and the majority of the seven reciters read 'labada' with a kasra on the lam, the plural of 'lubda'. Ibn Abbas said it means 'aiding'. Ibn Amr, contrary to him, Mujahid, and Ibn Muhaisin read 'labada' with a damma on the lam and a lightened open bā, which is also a plural. It was narrated from Al-Jahdari 'lubudā' with a damma on the lam and bā. Abu Rajā read 'libbada' with a kasra on the lam and a doubled open bā. Al-Jahdari and Al-Hasan read, contrary to them, 'lubbadā' with a damma on the lam and a doubled bā, which is the plural of 'lābud'. If we assume the pronoun refers to the jinn, it is due to their gathering around him to listen to the remembrance. This is the interpretation of Ibn Abbas and Al-Dahhak. If we assume it refers to the disbelievers, it is due to their collusion against him and their inclination towards his matter with denial and rejection. This is the interpretation of Al-Hasan and Qatadah. And 'yad'ūhu' means: he worships him.

Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, read: 'He said, indeed I only call upon my Lord', which is the reading of the majority of the seven reciters. It is a plural, and if we assume the pronoun refers to the jinn, it is due to their gathering around him to listen to the remembrance. This is the interpretation of Al-Hasan and Qatadah, and 'ad'ū means: I worship him. The majority of the seven reciters read this, and this reading supports that 'the servant' is Noah, peace be upon him. Reciters such as Asim, Hamzah, Ayub, and Abu Amr, contrary to him, read: 'He said, indeed I only call', and this supports that it is Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, although the possibility remains for both. The reciters differed regarding the opening of the yā in 'rabbi' and its being silent.

Then Allah, the Exalted, commanded Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, to disassociate himself from the ability, and that he does not possess harm or guidance for anyone. Rather, the entire matter belongs to Allah, the Exalted. Al-A'raj read 'rushdā' with a damma on the rā and shīn. Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: 'I do not possess for you misguidance or guidance'. And His saying, the Exalted: 'min dūnih' means: from other than Him. And 'al-multahad' is the refuge that one leans towards and rests in, and from it is 'ilhad' and 'mayl', and from it is 'lحد' which is the leaning towards one side of the grave.