This surprise [His saying "this surprise" means: that which is in the saying of Allah, the Most High, "Indeed, they have denied you."] is a good and wonderful argument and is especially so if it is accompanied by a shift in address and the omission of the saying. Like His saying, "O People of the Scripture, indeed our Messenger has come to you to make clear to you after a period of messengers, lest you say, 'There came not to us a bringer of good tidings or a warner.' Indeed, there has come to you a bringer of good tidings and a warner." And the saying of the poet:

They said, "Khorasan is the farthest that is intended for us... then the return, for we have come to Khorasan." [He says: They said that this town is the farthest that is intended for us and the ultimate of our travel, then the return means coming back. It is possible that it is connected to Khorasan. And the saying "for we have come" is dependent on an omitted phrase, meaning: If they are truthful in their saying, then we have come to Khorasan, so why did we not escape from traveling? It is also possible that he shifted to address, meaning: So tell them to cut off the travel with us and return. For we have come to the appointed time, but that is not a shift in address.]

And it was recited: "they say," with the feminine and the masculine. The meaning of the one who recited with the feminine is that they have denied you by saying that they are gods. And the meaning of the one who recited with the masculine is that they have denied you by saying, "Glory be to You, it was not for us to take besides You any allies."

If you say: Does the ruling of the preposition differ with the feminine and masculine? I say: Yes, by Allah, it does. It is with the feminine like His saying, "Rather, they have denied the truth," and the genitive phrase is an alternative to the pronoun, as if it were said: Indeed, they have denied what you say. And it is with the masculine like saying: I wrote with the pen. And it was recited: "they are able," with the feminine and masculine as well. It means: What can you, O disbelievers, do to avert the punishment from yourselves? And it was said: to avert means repentance, and it was said: a trick, from their saying: He indeed is crafty, meaning: he plots, or what can your gods do to avert the punishment from you? Or to devise for you.

The address is general to those who are accountable. And the great punishment is due upon everyone who has wronged, and the disbeliever is a wrongdoer, due to His saying: "Indeed, associating others with Allah is a great injustice," and the sinful is a wrongdoer, due to His saying: "And whoever does not repent, then those are the wrongdoers." And it was recited: "he will taste it," with the masculine. In it is the pronoun of Allah or the pronoun of the source of injustice.