And among those who dislike is one who is more eloquent than to say: 'I am of your deeds,' as one would say: 'So-and-so is among the scholars,' which is more eloquent than saying: 'So-and-so is a scholar,' because you bear witness to him being counted among them, and his contribution to knowledge is known. It is possible that he means: among the complete ones in your dislike. And 'al-qala' is intense hatred, as if it is a hatred that burns the heart and liver. In this is evidence of the enormity of sin, and the intended meaning is the dislike from the perspective of religion and piety. The zeal for religion in the religion of Allah may become so strong that the dislike for sins approaches the natural aversion to what they do as punishment for their deeds, which is the apparent meaning. It is also possible that he means by 'salvation': protection. If you say: What is the meaning of His saying: 'So We saved him and his family all together except for an old woman'? I say: Its meaning is that He protected him and his family from that except for the old woman, for she was not protected from it, as she was pleased with it, supportive of it, and inciting. The one who is pleased with sin is in the ruling of the sinner. If you say: His family were believers, and if it were not for that, He would not have sought salvation for them, then how was the disbeliever excluded from them? I say: The exception was made from the family, and in this name, she has a rightful share with them due to marriage, even if she did not share with them in faith. If you say: 'In the remaining ones' is a description of her, as if it were said: 'except for an old woman who is remaining,' and the remaining was not her description at the time of their salvation. [Mahamud said: 'The genitive is a description of her, as if it were said: except for an old woman who is remaining, and the remaining was not her description at the time of their salvation.' I say: Its meaning is except for an old woman whose remaining is determined, meaning: in destruction and punishment.] Ahmad said: Even if you hasten to raise the established principle mentioned earlier, know that the secret which necessitated the deviation from saying for example: 'except for an old woman who is remaining' to what is mentioned in the recitation is that what is mentioned in the recitation implies that she is from a nation marked by this characteristic of destruction as I have presented now, so it is more eloquent than merely describing her as remaining. And Allah knows best. I say: Its meaning is except for an old woman whose remaining is determined. And the meaning of 'the remaining ones' in punishment and destruction is: those who are not saved. It is said: She perished with those who left the village due to what was rained upon them from stones. And the intended meaning of their destruction is their being taken away, and as for the raining: it is reported from Qatadah: Allah rained stones from the sky upon the remnants of the people and destroyed them. And from Ibn Zayd: He was not satisfied with their being taken away until He followed them with a rain of stones. And the subject of 'the rain of the warned ones' did not refer to a specific people, but rather it is for the generality, and the specific one being condemned is omitted, which is their rain.