In six days, meaning in a duration: the amount of this period, because at that time there was neither day nor night. It was said: six days from the days of the Hereafter, and each day is a thousand years. The apparent meaning is that they are from the days of this world. And from Mujahid: the first of them is Sunday, and the last is Friday. The reasoning is that Allah named those specified days with these names for His angels, so when He created the sun and set it in motion, and the order of the world was arranged as it is, the naming was applied to these days. As for the reason for this number - namely six rather than other numbers - we do not doubt that it is a reason of wisdom, for we know that nothing is determined except by a reason of wisdom, even if we do not have knowledge of it or find a way to understand it. Among that is the determination of the angels who are the companions of the Fire as nineteen, and the bearers of the Throne as eight, and the months as twelve, and the heavens as seven, and the earth likewise, and the prayers as five, and the numbers of the penalties, limits, expiations, and others. Acknowledging the reasons of wisdom in all His actions, and that what He has decreed is right and correct is faith. This is indicated in His saying: 'And We did not make the companions of the Fire except angels, and We did not make their number except as a trial for those who disbelieved, so that those who were given the Scripture may be certain and that those who have believed may increase in faith, and that those who were given the Scripture and the believers may not doubt, and that those in whose hearts is a disease and the disbelievers may say: What did Allah intend by this as a parable?' Then He said: 'And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him.' This is also the answer to the question of why He did not create them in an instant, while He is capable of that. And from Sa'id ibn Jubair, may Allah be pleased with him, it is said: He only created them in six days while He is able to create them in an instant, teaching His creation gentleness and patience. It was said: Their creation gathered on Friday, so Allah made it a day of celebration for the Muslims. The One who created is the subject. And the Most Gracious is the predicate. Or it is an attribute of the Living, and the Most Gracious is the predicate of an omitted subject. Or it is a substitute for the hidden subject in 'He rose over.' And it was read: the Most Gracious, in the genitive as an attribute of the Living. And it was read: 'So ask,' and the 'by' in 'by it' is a connection to 'ask,' like His saying: 'A questioner asked about a punishment that is bound to happen,' as it is about its connection in His saying: 'Then you will surely be asked on that Day about pleasure.' So 'ask' by it, like His saying: 'He was concerned about it, and took care of it, and was preoccupied with it.' And 'ask about it' like saying: 'He searched for it, and investigated it, and inquired about it.' Or a connection to 'expert': and make 'expert' the object of 'ask,' meaning: 'So ask about it a knowledgeable man who will inform you of His mercy.' Or 'So ask a man who is knowledgeable about it and His mercy.' Or: 'So ask by asking an expert,' like saying: 'I saw a lion by seeing it.' The meaning is: If you ask Him, you will find Him knowledgeable. Or make it a state of the pronoun, meaning: 'So ask about it a knower of all things.' It was said: The Most Gracious is a name from the names of Allah mentioned in the previous scriptures, and they did not know it, so it was said: 'So ask by this name someone who will inform you from the People of the Book, until it is known who denies it.' Hence, they used to say: 'We do not know the Most Gracious except the one in Yamama,' referring to Musaylimah. He was called: the Most Gracious of Yamama.