Say, "Believe in it or do not believe." This is a command to turn away from them and to disdain them and to regard them with contempt. It is to not care about them and their belief or their refusal of it. If they do not enter into faith and do not believe in the Qur'an, while they are people of ignorance and polytheism, then there are better and more virtuous ones than them—those scholars who have read the books and know what is revelation and what are the laws—who have believed in it and confirmed it. It has been established with them that he is the promised Arab prophet in their books. When it is recited to them, they fall down in prostration and glorify Allah in reverence for His command and for the fulfillment of what He promised in the revealed books, and for the sending of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and the revelation of the Qur'an upon him. This is what is meant by the promise in His saying, "If the promise of our Lord is to be fulfilled..." And He increases them in humility, meaning He increases them in the Qur'an with a soft heart and moist eyes. If you say, "Indeed, those who were given knowledge before him," what is the reason for this? I say, it may be a reason for His saying, "Believe in it or do not believe," and it may be a reason for saying it as a means of consolation for the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and to comfort his soul, as if it were said: Do not be saddened by the belief of the ignorant in the belief of the scholars. And in the first case: If you do not believe in him, then indeed, those who are better than you have believed in him. If you say, "What is the meaning of falling down for the chin?" I say, it means falling on the face, and he mentioned the chin because it is the point where the two jaws meet, for the one who prostrates first places his chin on the ground. If you say, "The preposition of superiority is evident in meaning when you say he fell on his face and on his chin, what is the meaning of the 'lam' in 'he fell for his chin and for his face'?" He said:

So he fell down, prostrate on his hands and mouth.

[On the day of the dogs, our spears were removed... Sharhabil when he swore an oath to divide

To take away our spears, so Abu Hanj took it away from the back of a strong mare.

He took it with the spear and then bent to him... So he fell down, prostrate on his hands and mouth.

This is by Jabir al-Thalabi. It was said that the third line is by Shuraik al-Absi. It was said to be by Zuhair. The dogs, with a damma, is the name of the place of the incident. And 'he swore' means he took an oath. The 'long mare' refers to a tall horse, and 'the strong one'—with a kasra on the two unmarked letters—means the strong one. It is narrated: Then he bent to him. Its origin is 'bent,' and the noon was assimilated after it was changed to a thaa in the thaa. And if it were read: 'Then come to me,' from 'atani' and 'take your time,' it would be permissible. It is narrated: I advanced to him with the spear from beneath his side. It is narrated: I pierced him with the spear at the collar of his shirt. Perhaps the difference in narrations is due to the difference in the speaker. And 'to take' means to grasp, so the meaning is: he followed him and stabbed him with the spear, as if he took him, then he bent to him, meaning he stabbed him again, so he fell down, lying down, and that was for his hands and mouth, because these are the parts that first meet the ground when he falls on his face. The 'lam' here means 'on,' as mentioned by the grammarians, although Al-Nahhas denied it. And 'to advance quickly' means to move forward quickly and to bring his steps closer together. And 'the collar of his shirt' is a metaphor for his chest, for when he pierces the collar of the shirt with the spear, he has pierced the chest.]] I say: Its meaning is that he made his chin and face for falling down and specified it with it, because the 'lam' indicates specification. If you say, "Why is 'they fall down for their chins' repeated?" I say, for the difference in the two states: one is their falling down while they are prostrating, and the other is their falling down while they are weeping.