And if there were a Qur'an by which the mountains were set in motion, as you say to your servant: If I were to rise to you, and you leave the answer, the meaning is: And if there were a Qur'an by which the mountains were moved from their places, and shaken from their beds, or the earth were cut by it until it cracks and breaks apart, or the dead were spoken to by it so that they hear and respond, this Qur'an would be so, for it is the utmost in reminder and the end in warning and fear, as He said: If We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled, crumbling from the fear of Allah. This supports what I explained regarding His saying: That you may recite to them what We have revealed to you, intending to exalt what was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, from the Qur'an. It was said: Its meaning is that if there were a Qur'an that could move mountains, cut the earth, and speak to the dead, they would not believe in it and would not be alerted to it, as in His saying: And if We had sent down the angels to them. It was said that Abu Jahl ibn Hisham said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: Move the mountains away from Mecca with your Qur'an until we have space to make gardens and fields in it, as it was made easy for Dawood, may peace be upon him, if you are a prophet as you claim, then you are not less significant to Allah than Dawood. And make the wind serve us so that we may ride it and trade to Sham and then return in our day, for it has become difficult for us to cover the long distance as it was made easy for Sulayman, may peace be upon him. Or send us two or three men from among our deceased ancestors: among them Qusay ibn Kilab. I did not find him in this context, and Ibn Rabi'ah narrated from Abu Usamah from Mujalid from Al-Sha'bi who said: Quraysh said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: If you are a prophet as you claim, then separate the mountains of Mecca, I think these two are a journey of four or five days until we can plant in them and graze, and send us our fathers from the dead so that they may speak to us and tell us that you are a prophet, or take us to Sham, or to Yemen, or to Al-Hirah, so that we may go and return in a night as you claimed you did. So Allah, the Exalted, revealed: And if there were a Qur'an - the verse. And Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Mardawayh narrated through 'Atiyyah ibn Abi Sa'id who said: They said to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him: If you could move the mountains of Mecca so that we could cultivate them, or cut the earth for us as Sulayman cut for his people with the wind. Abu Ya'la narrated from the hadith of Al-Zubair ibn Al-Awwam who said: When it was revealed: And warn your closest relatives, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called out: O people of Quraysh, and Quraysh came to him. He warned them and cautioned them, and they said: You claim to be a prophet, and that Sulayman had the wind and mountains at his service, and that Musa parted the sea, and that 'Isa brought the dead to life. So pray to Allah to move these mountains away from us and cause the earth to burst forth with rivers so that we may make it into fields to plant and eat, or pray to Allah to bring our dead back to life so that we may speak to them and they may speak to us, or pray to Allah to turn this rock beside you into gold so that we may carve from it and be enriched. He said: While we were around him, the revelation came down upon him. When it was lifted from him, he said: By Him in whose hand is my soul, I have been given what you asked for, and if I wished, it would have been, but He informed me that if He gave you that and then you disbelieved, He would punish you. So it was revealed. And the meaning of cutting the earth in this context is to cut it through movement and surpassing it. And from Al-Farra: It is related to what preceded it. The meaning is: While they are disbelieving in the Most Merciful, and if there were a Qur'an by which the mountains were moved, and what is between them is an interruption, and it is not far from correctness. And it was said: The earth was cut by it, meaning it was split and made into rivers and springs. Rather, to Allah belongs all command in two meanings: One is that to Allah belongs the power over all things, and He is capable of the signs they proposed, but His knowledge that showing them would cause corruption prevents Him. The second is that to Allah belongs the ability to compel them to believe, and He is capable of compelling them were it not that He established the matter of obligation on choice. This is supported by His saying: Do those who have believed not despair that if Allah had willed, meaning the will to compel and force, He would have guided all people. And the meaning of: Do they not despair is: Do they not know? It was said: This is the language of a tribe from Al-Nakha'. And it was said that the use of despair in the meaning of knowledge is due to its implication, for the one who despairs of something knows that it will not happen, just as hope is used in the meaning of fear, and forgetting in the meaning of leaving it.

I say to them in the valley when they make me easy... Did you not despair that I am the son of Faris Zahdam? [[The explanation of this evidence is found in the first part, page 261, refer to it if you wish, the corrector said.]]

And it indicates that Ali, Ibn Abbas, and a group of the companions and followers read: 'Did it not become clear?' which is an interpretation of 'Did they not despair?' It is said that the writer wrote it while drowsy, with the letters being level. This and similar things cannot be believed in the Book of Allah, which falsehood does not approach from before it or from behind it. How could such a thing be hidden until it remains established between the covers of the Imam? It was in the hands of those scholars who were cautious in the religion of Allah, who were guardians over it, and did not neglect its great and subtle matters, especially the law to which reference is made, and the principle upon which the structure is built. This, by Allah, is a falsehood in which there is no doubt.

And it is permissible that 'if He wills' relates to 'they believed,' as in: Did they not despair of the faith of those disbelievers who believed that if Allah wills, He would guide all people? And He would guide them with what befalls them due to their disbelief and evil deeds, a calamity that strikes them with what Allah decrees upon them at all times from various afflictions and disasters in their souls, their children, and their wealth. Or the calamity may strike close to them, and they panic and tremble, and its evil spreads to them, and its harms reach them until the promise of Allah comes, which is their death or the Day of Resurrection.

And it is said: The disbelievers of Mecca continue to be afflicted by what they have done to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, of enmity and denial, a calamity, because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, continued to send out expeditions [[I said: This is found in the Maghazi of Ibn Ishaq, and Al-Waqidi, and the classes of Ibn Sa'd in several expeditions, including the expedition of Zaid ibn Harithah to encounter the caravan of Quraysh, and the expedition against Al-Harith ibn Sa'd ibn Bakr, and others.]] which changed the surroundings of Mecca and seized from them, affecting their livestock. Or you, O Muhammad, may soon settle near their homes with your army, as you settled at Hudaybiyyah, until the promise of Allah comes, which is the conquest of Mecca, and Allah had promised him that.