Mu'adh ibn Jabal read: 'by Allah.' And it was read: 'tawallu,' meaning 'you turn away.' This is supported by His saying: 'So they turned away from him, retreating.'

If you say: What is the difference between the 'ba' and the 'ta'? I say: The 'ba' is the original, and the 'ta' is a substitute for the 'wa' that has been replaced. The 'ta' adds a meaning of wonder, as if he is astonished by how easy the plot is for him and comes to him, because this was a matter expected to be difficult and impossible. Truly, something like this is difficult and impossible in every time, especially in the time of Nimrod with his arrogance, pride, strength of authority, and his eagerness to support his religion. But:

If Allah facilitates the tying of something, it becomes easy.

The source is mentioned as a confirmation that pushes for leniency in the action, then it clarifies the intended meaning by saying 'not by conjecture.' It is possible that it was mentioned as a prelude to describing it as not conjecture. 'Sannaytu' the thing means I untied it and made it easy. The 'aqd' is a metaphor for difficulty explicitly, meaning: if Allah makes the difficulty of something easy and removes it, it becomes easy to attain or repel if it is beloved or hated.

It is narrated that Azar took him out on a day of their festival, and they began with the house of the idols. They entered it, prostrated to it, and placed food among them that they took with them, saying: 'Until we return, may the gods bless our food.' They went away, and Ibrahim remained. He looked at the idols, which were seventy idols lined up, and there was a great idol facing the door, made of gold, with two jewels in its eyes that shone at night. He broke all of them with an axe in his hand, until only the large one remained, and he hung the axe around its neck.

From Qatadah: He said this secretly from his people, and it was narrated: One man heard it, 'juthadh' meaning pieces, from 'juth' which means to cut. It was read with a kasrah and a fathah. It was read: 'juthadh.' The plural of 'jadhidh,' and 'juthadh' is the plural of 'juthah.' He only spared the large one because he thought they would not return except to it, due to what they had heard of his denial of their religion and his insult to their gods, so he would confront them with his saying: 'Rather, it was their great one who did this; so ask them.' And from al-Kalbi: 'to their great one.' The meaning of this is: perhaps they will return to him as they would return to a scholar in solving problems, saying to him: 'Why are these broken and yours is intact, while the axe is on your shoulder?' This is based on his assumption about them, due to what he experienced and tasted from their stubbornness against their minds and their belief in their gods and their glorification of them.

Or he said it knowing that they would not return to him, mocking them and belittling them, and that the case of one who prostrates to him and qualifies him for worship is that they would return to him in solving every problem. If you say: If they returned to the idol with their stubbornness against their minds and the deep-rootedness of polytheism in their roots, what religious benefit is there in their returning to it that Ibrahim, blessings of Allah be upon him, would make it a target? I say: If they return to it, it becomes clear that it is powerless, neither benefiting nor harming, and it appears that they are in its worship in great ignorance.