His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So Allah seized him as a punishment for the Hereafter and the former [punishment]. Indeed, in that is a lesson for whoever fears [Allah]." "Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He constructed it. He raised its height and fashioned it. And He darkened its night and brought forth its daylight. And the earth, after that, He spread it out. He brought forth from it its water and its pasture. And the mountains, He anchored them. A provision for you and for your livestock. So when the greatest catastrophe comes, the Day when man will remember what he strove for, and Hellfire will be exposed for whoever sees."

"Punishment" is in the accusative as a verbal noun. Some people said: "the Hereafter" refers to His saying: "I do not know for you of a god other than Me" [Al-Qasas: 38], and "the former" refers to His saying: "I am your Lord, the Most High" [An-Nazi'at: 24]. It has been narrated that he remained after saying: "I am your Lord, the Most High" [An-Nazi'at: 24] for forty years. It was said that this duration was between the two statements. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "the former" refers to His saying: "I do not know for you of a god other than Me" [Al-Qasas: 38], and "the Hereafter" refers to His saying: "I am your Lord, the Most High" [An-Nazi'at: 24]. Abu Ruzain said: "the former" is his disbelief and disobedience, and "the Hereafter" is His saying: "I am your Lord, the Most High" [An-Nazi'at: 24]. Ibn Zayd said: "the former" is this world, and "the Hereafter" is the abode of the Hereafter, meaning: Allah seized him with the punishment of Hellfire and by drowning in this world. Mujahid said: it refers to the first of his sins and disbelief and the last of them, meaning He punished all of them.

"Punishment" is in the accusative as a verbal noun, and the operative word in it, according to the opinion of Sibawayh, is "seized"; because it is in its meaning, and according to the opinion of Abu al-Abbas al-Mubarrid, it is an implied verb from the word "punishment," as if he said: He punished him with punishment.

Then Allah, exalted is He, stopped at the place of the lesson regarding Pharaoh and his punishment. In the speech is a warning to the disbelievers addressed by the message of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Then He addressed them, speaking to all of the world, and the intended audience is the disbelievers. It is possible that the meaning is: Say to them, O Muhammad: "Are you a more difficult creation?" The verse contains evidence that the resurrection of the bodies from the graves is not difficult for the power of Allah, exalted is He. And "height" is the elevation that is between the surface of the lower heaven that is closest to us and the surface of the upper heaven that is above it. And His saying, exalted is He: "And He fashioned it" may mean: He created it smooth and level, with no elevation or depression in it, and it may refer to the perfection of its creation. The meaning of making its surface smooth is not intended, and Allah, exalted is He, knows best how it is.

And "darkened" means: made dark, and "the darkened" means: the blind. From it is the saying of the poet:

I slaughtered for them a weakening she-camel while their night was darkened and gloomy.

And He attributed the night and the daylight to it in terms of their being apparent from it and in it.

'And His saying, the Most High: "And the earth after that He spread it" is directed towards the fact that Allah, the Most High, created the earth and did not spread it, then He turned to the heaven while it was smoke, so He created it and fashioned it, then He spread the earth after that. Mujahid read: "And the earth with that," and a group said: Indeed, "after that" means: with that. What we have said is contingent upon all the verses of the Qur'an. He attributed water and pasture to the earth, as they both appear from it. The spreading of the earth is its expansion, and from it is the saying of Ummiyyah ibn Abi al-Salt:

A dwelling He spread, then settled us therein, And established in the other which is more glorious.

The majority read: "And the earth" in the accusative, while Hasan and Isa read: "And the earth" in the nominative. The majority read: "And the mountains He set firmly" in the accusative, while Hasan and Amr ibn Ubayd read: "And the mountains" in the nominative. "He set them firmly" means: He established them. When one contemplates these blessings, they are provisions for people and the livestock, they enjoy them and benefit from them. The majority read: "provision" in the accusative, while Ibn Abi Abla read: "provision" in the nominative.

And "the great calamity" is the Day of Resurrection, as said by Ibn Abbas and al-Dahhak. Hasan and Ibn Abbas also said: It is the second blowing of the trumpet. And His saying, the Most High: "What he strove for" means: what he did of his deeds, and he will remember that by what he sees of his recompense. The majority of the people read: "And it was presented" with a damma on the ba and a shadda on the ra with a kasra. Ikrimah, Malik ibn Dinar, and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, read: "And it was presented" with a fatha on the ba and ra. The majority of the people read: "For whom sees" with a ya, meaning: for whom perceives and obtains. Ikrimah, Malik ibn Dinar, and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, read: "For whom you see" with a ta, meaning: you see it, O Muhammad. The reference is to the disbelievers of Mecca, or it refers to the people and the intended ones are the disbelievers of Mecca. It is possible that the meaning is: for whom the Hellfire sees, as He, the Most High, said: "When it sees them from a distant place" [Al-Furqan: 12]. Ibn Mas'ud read: "For whom saw" in the past tense.