Most say that it is the spirit that is in animals. They asked him about its reality, and he informed them that it is from the command of Allah, meaning from that which He has kept knowledge of. And from Ibn Abi Buraydah: The Prophet ﷺ passed away and did not know the spirit. [This was mentioned by Al-Wahidi in Al-Wasīt about Abdullah ibn Buraydah in a narration that has no prior chain.]

And it was said: It is a great spiritual creation greater than the angel. And it was said: Gabriel, peace be upon him. And it was said: The Qur'an.

And from the command of my Lord, meaning from His revelation and words, not from the words of humans. The Jews sent to the Quraysh to ask him about the companions of the cave, about Dhul-Qarnayn, and about the spirit. If he answered them or remained silent, he is not a prophet. If he answered some and remained silent about others, he is a prophet. So he clarified for them the two stories and left the matter of the spirit ambiguous, which is ambiguous in the Torah. They regretted their question. [I did not find it like this. Ibn Hisham mentioned it in the Sirah from Ziyad from Abu Ishaq. Likewise, Al-Bayhaqi narrated it in Al-Dala'il through him: 'The people of Mecca sent a group of them to the Jews to ask them about things to test the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They said to them: Ask him about three things. If he knows them, he is a prophet: Ask him about a people who went into the earth and did not know what they did... the story in full.']

And what you have been given is the address, or is it meant in it? He said:

Rather, we and you have not been given knowledge except a little. They said: How strange is your affair! At one moment you say: 'And whoever is given wisdom has certainly been given much good,' and at another moment you say this. [This was mentioned by Al-Thalabi in the Tafsir of Luqman without a chain or narrator. Ibn Mardawayh narrated it from the path of Ali ibn Asim from Dawud ibn Abi Hind from Ikrimah. I only know it from Ibn Abbas. He said: 'When this verse was revealed: 'And what you have been given of knowledge is but a little,' the Jews said: We have been given much knowledge. We have been given the Torah, and whoever is given the Torah has been given much good. So Allah, the Exalted, revealed: 'Say: If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would surely run out.']

So it was revealed: 'And if all the trees on earth were pens...' And what they said is not necessary, because the little and the much revolve around the addition. A thing is described as little when added to what is above it, and as much when added to what is below it. The wisdom that the servant has been given is much good in itself, but when it is added to the knowledge of Allah, it is little. And it was said: It is an address specifically to the Jews, because they said to the Prophet ﷺ: We have been given the Torah, and in it is wisdom, and you recited: 'And whoever is given wisdom has certainly been given much good.' So it was said to them: The knowledge of the Torah is little in comparison to the knowledge of Allah.