And we do not descend except as a narration of the saying of Gabriel, blessings of Allah be upon him, when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, felt delayed by him. It was narrated that he was held back for forty days. It was said: fifteen days. This was when he was asked about the story of the Companions of the Cave, Dhul-Qarnayn, and the soul. He did not know how to respond and hoped that he would be inspired regarding it. This was very difficult for him, and the polytheists said: His Lord has abandoned him and forsaken him. When Gabriel, peace be upon him, descended, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to him: You have delayed until my thoughts turned bad and I longed for you. He said: I was longing, but I am a commanded servant. When I am sent, I descend, and when I am held back, I remain. And Allah, glorified and exalted is He, revealed this verse and Surah Ad-Duha. [Al-Tha'labi mentioned it from 'Ikrimah, Al-Duhak, Al-Qatadah, Al-Muqatil, and Al-Kalbi. They said, he was held back, and they mentioned it similarly, as if it was compiled among them. Ibn Ishaq mentioned it in the Sirah. A Sheikh from the people of Egypt narrated to me from 'Ikrimah from Ibn Abbas that Quraysh came and said: O Muhammad, inform us about the youth who went in the early times - and he mentioned the story - and in it: 'He remained for what they mention fifteen nights, and Allah did not speak to him in that, and Gabriel did not come to him.' He mentioned it with changes, additions, and omissions. Abu Nu'aym narrated it in Al-Dala'il from his path and from the path of Al-Kalbi from Abu Salih from Ibn Abbas similarly. He said he delayed for fifteen days for leaving out the exception.] And the descent has two meanings: the meaning of descending gradually, and the meaning of descending absolutely, as His saying: 'So I am not to be forgotten, but rather to an angel... descending from the atmosphere of the heavens.' [You have exalted yourself to be attributed to mankind, and for mankind, there is one who attributes you, and he is a liar. So I am not to be forgotten, but rather to an angel descending from the atmosphere of the heavens.] For a man from 'Abd al-Qays, praising Al-Nu'man ibn al-Mundhir. And it was said to Abu Wajrah praising Abdullah ibn al-Zubair. And 'to be attributed' means 'to be ascribed.' Al-Jillah - with a dammah - is a container for dates, and with a kasrah, it means a great group, the plural of jaleel, and with a fathah, it means dung, and it is a distinction transformed from a substitute for the doer, meaning: you have exalted yourself from being attributed to your container, meaning: your origin, to mankind. And His saying: 'And for mankind, there is one who attributes you,' has the connection of the relative preceded by the related. The famous opinion is to prohibit it, for they expand in the circumstances, and the letter 'fa' was added in the news of the relative because it resembles a condition. If it were made a condition, it would involve the establishment of a vowel letter after the jussive for necessity. And the 'malak' is a place name, from 'al-uka' with a fathah, which means message. Abu Ubaidah said: It is a place name from 'al-aka' when he sent. It may have come in the form of a place name to indicate that the messenger is the place of the message. Ibn Kaysan said: It is a form of 'fa' from 'malak,' so the hamzah is extra. In any case, it is softened by transfer, and it is said: 'that.' And 'as-soub' means the direction or inclination upon descent, and 'malak' is an indefinite noun because it is a name of 'la,' and what follows it is its description, meaning: but rather an angel descending from the heavens you are. And it indicates that the one being spoken of, the praised, is not the angel, and it may be that it is reversed for emphasis, as they said in the inverted analogy. It is possible that its estimation is: but you were an angel, and it is distant. The most correct narration is: 'So I am not to be forgotten, but rather to an angel,' meaning: 'So I am not attributed to mankind, but rather to an angel,' and he emphasized this until he made him descending from the direction of the heavens, meaning: aiming towards it.] Because it is a companion of 'descend,' and 'descend' can mean 'to send down' and 'to gradually descend.' The suitable meaning in this context is the gradual descent, and the meaning is that our descent at times is only by the command of Allah and according to what He sees as right and wise. He has what is before us and what is behind us from directions and places and what is between that. And we cannot help but move from one direction to another and from one place to another except by the command of the Sovereign and His will. He is the Preserver, the All-Knowing of every movement and stillness, and what occurs and renews from states. It is not permissible for Him to be forgetful or negligent, so how can we turn in His dominion except if He sees that as beneficial and wise, and grants us permission for it. It was said: what has passed of worldly matters and what is to come of the Hereafter, and what is between that: what is between the two blasts, which is forty years. It was said: what has passed of our lifetimes and what has gone by of it, and the state we are in. It was said: what was before our existence and what is after our annihilation. It was said:

The earth that is before us when we descend, and the sky that is behind us, and what is between the sky and the earth, and the meaning is: that He encompasses all things. Nothing is hidden from Him, nor does an atom's weight escape Him. So how can we proceed to do an action unless it is based on what His wisdom necessitates and what He commands us to do and permits us in it? It was said that the meaning of 'And your Lord was not forgetful' is that He was not neglecting you, as His saying: 'Your Lord has not forsaken you nor has He become displeased' means: the reason for the withholding of descent was only the withholding of the command to do so. As for the withholding of revelation, it was not due to Allah's neglect of you and His bidding you farewell, but rather it was contingent upon what is beneficial. It was said: this is a narration of the saying of the righteous when they enter Paradise, meaning: we do not enter Paradise except by Allah bestowing upon us the reward for our deeds and commanding us to enter it. He is the owner of all matters, past, future, and present, the kind one in good deeds, the one who grants success in them, and the one who rewards for them. Then Allah, the Exalted, said - affirming their saying -: 'And your Lord was not forgetful of the deeds of the doers.' He is not heedless of what they should be rewarded for. And how can forgetfulness and heedlessness be permissible for the One who has dominion over the heavens and the earth and what is between them? Then He said to His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him: When you have recognized Him with this attribute, then turn to work and worship Him; He will reward you as He rewarded others from the righteous. And Al-A'raj, may Allah be pleased with him, read: 'And it does not descend,' with a 'ya' in the narration from Gabriel, peace be upon him, and the pronoun refers to the revelation. And from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him: 'Except by the saying of your Lord.' The disagreement regarding forgetfulness should be similar to that regarding oppression.