Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, heard Abu Jahl say: O Allah, O Most Gracious. He said: He forbids us to worship two deities while he calls upon another deity. It was said that the People of the Book said: You indeed mention the Most Gracious little, while Allah has mentioned this name abundantly in the Torah, so this was revealed. The calling here means naming, not invoking. It takes two objects; you say: I called him Zayd, then one of them is omitted as unnecessary, and it is said: I called Zayd. Allah and the Most Gracious, what is meant by them is the name, not the named. The 'or' indicates choice, so the meaning of 'Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Gracious' is that you may name Him by this name or that, and mention either this or that. The nunation in 'any' is a substitute for the genitive. And 'what' is a connection for the confirmed ambiguity of what is in 'any', meaning: whichever of these two names you have named and mentioned, for Him are the most beautiful names. The pronoun in 'for Him' does not refer back to either of the mentioned names, but to their named, which is His essence, glorified and exalted is He, because naming is for the essence, not for the name. The meaning is: whichever you call upon, it is good. Thus, the phrase 'for Him are the most beautiful names' is placed in its place because if all His names are good, these two names are good because they are among them. The meaning of them being the best names is that they are independent in meanings of praise, sanctification, and glorification. 'In your prayer' by reading your prayer, with the omission of the genitive, because it is not confusing, since loudness and quietness are two attributes that alternate on sound and nothing else. Prayer consists of actions and remembrances. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, would raise his voice in his recitation. When the polytheists heard it, they would scoff and curse, so he was commanded to lower his voice. The meaning is: And do not raise your voice so that the polytheists hear you, and do not lower it so that those behind you do not hear, and seek a middle way between loudness and quietness. It was narrated that Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, would lower his voice while reading in his prayer and say: I converse with my Lord, and He knows my need. And Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, would raise his voice and say: I drive away the devil and awaken the sleepy. So he commanded Abu Bakr to raise his voice a little and Umar to lower it a little. It was narrated by Abu Dawood, Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Hibban, and Al-Hakim from the narration of Yahya ibn Ishaq Al-Sulami from Hamad from Thabit from Abdullah ibn Rabah from Abu Qatada in meaning. There is no mention of the saying 'He knows my need' in it, and it is mentioned that each of them spoke when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, asked them about that. Al-Tirmidhi said: Most people narrated it but did not mention Abu Qatada. Ibn Abi Hatim said about his father: The wording includes Yahya ibn Ishaq, and the correct version is unconnected. And there are other narrations from Ali, which Al-Bayhaqi narrated in Al-Shu'ab. And from Abu Huraira, which Abu Dawood narrated from the narration of Muhammad ibn Umar. And from Abu Salamah from him briefly. And Al-Tabari narrated from the narration of Muhammad ibn Sirin who said: 'It was reported to me that Abu Bakr mentioned it' and said in it: I converse with my Lord, and He knows my need. A little. It was said: Its meaning is: And do not raise your voice in all your prayer, nor lower it in all of it, and seek a way between that by raising your voice in the night prayer and lowering it in the daytime prayer. And it was said: 'In your prayer' means in your supplication. Some people believe that the verse has been abrogated by the saying: 'Call upon your Lord in humility and privately.' And seeking the way: like aiming for the middle face in recitation. 'A protector from humiliation' is a supporter against humiliation and a defender from it due to His pride in it, or he does not ally with anyone due to humiliation to repel it by his allegiance.