And they followed, meaning they abandoned the Book of Allah and followed what the devils recite. This means they followed the books of magic and sorcery that were recited during the reign of Solomon, meaning during his kingship and in his time. This is because the devils used to steal whispers and then add to what they heard lies that they fabricated and cast to the priests. They recorded these in books which they read and taught to the people. This spread during the time of Solomon, peace be upon him, until they said: "Indeed, the jinn know the unseen." They would say: "This is the knowledge of Solomon, and Solomon's kingship was only established by this knowledge, and by it, mankind, jinn, and the wind that moves by his command are made subservient." And Solomon did not disbelieve; this is a denial of the devils and a rejection of what they falsely attributed to Solomon regarding the belief in magic and practicing it. He called it disbelief. But it is the devils who disbelieved by using magic and recording it, teaching people magic with the intent of misleading and leading them astray. And what was revealed to the two angels is connected to magic, meaning they taught them what was revealed to the two angels. It was said that it is connected to what they recite, meaning they followed what was revealed. Harut and Marut are an explanatory apposition for the two angels. The knowledge that was revealed to them is the knowledge of magic, a trial from Allah for the people. Whoever learned it from them and acted upon it was a disbeliever, and whoever avoided it or learned it not to act upon it but to avoid it, so as not to be deceived by it, was a believer.

I recognized evil not for the sake of evil, but to avoid it.

So whoever does not recognize evil, from the people, falls into it.

This is from Abu Nuwas. The meaning of "but" here is for transitional contrast. One might think from his saying "not for the sake of evil" that he did not recognize evil for any of its related matters directly, so this assumption is dispelled by his saying: "but I recognized it to avoid it." It is for clarification, meaning I recognized it for the sake of being cautious of it. And "from the people" is a clarification that emphasizes the generality. It is a firm statement in response to the condition, meaning whoever is ignorant of evil falls into it, like a passerby who is unaware of a covered well in his path. They relied on this for the permissibility of learning about magic to be able to avoid it. It may also be that "from the people" is a description of evil, and "from" is explanatory or introductory. It is narrated that "from the good" means whoever does not distinguish between evil and good falls into evil. Just as the people of Talut were tested by the river, (So whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not eat from it, then he is of me). And Al-Hasan read (upon the two angels) with a kasra on the lam, on the basis that the knowledge of magic revealed to them was that they were angels in Babylon. And the two angels do not teach anyone until they warn him and advise him, saying: "Indeed, we are a trial," meaning a test and choice from Allah, "so do not disbelieve," do not learn it believing it to be true, lest you disbelieve. So they learn from the two angels what they use to cause separation between a man and his wife, meaning the knowledge of magic that serves as a cause for the separation between spouses through trickery and deception, like blowing on knots and the like, which Allah causes to bring about discord, estrangement, and disagreement. This is a trial from Him, not that magic has any reality in itself, as evidenced by His saying.

And they are not harming anyone by it except by the permission of Allah. This is because Allah may bring about an action from His actions at that time, and perhaps He does not. And they learn what harms them and does not benefit them because they intend by it evil. It is better to avoid it, like learning philosophy which one does not believe could lead to misguidance. And these Jews know that whoever buys it, meaning exchanges what the devils recite from the Book of Allah, has no share in the Hereafter. And wretched is what they have sold themselves for. Al-Hasan read: 'the devils.' And some Arabs say: 'the garden of so-and-so is surrounded by gardens.' Its explanation has been mentioned later. Al-Zuhri read (Harut and Marut) in the nominative case, meaning they are Harut and Marut. They are foreign names, as indicated by the prohibition of inflection. If they were from 'the breaking' as some claimed, they would have been inflected. Talha read (and they do not teach) from 'to inform.' And it was read (between the man) with the 'm' either pronounced or not, with the hamzah. And 'the bitter' is pronounced with emphasis, considering the lightening and the pause, as in their saying: 'the relief,' and treating the connection as a pause. Al-A'mash read: 'And they are not harming,' by dropping the 'n' and adding to 'one' with preference between them by the circumstance. If you say: how is it added to 'one' while it is governed by 'by'? I say: he made the preposition a part of the governed. If you say: how did he affirm knowledge for them first in his saying (and certainly they knew) as a form of emphatic swearing, then denied it from them in his saying: (if they had known)? I say: its meaning is if they acted upon their knowledge, he made them, when they did not act upon it, as if they were stripped of it.