If you say: From where does the hoopoe have the guidance to know Allah, and the obligation of prostration to Him, and the denial of their prostration to the sun and attributing it to the devil and its beautification? I say: It is not far-fetched that Allah inspires it with that, just as He inspires it and other birds and all animals with subtle knowledge that rational minds can hardly grasp. Whoever wants to investigate this should refer to the Book of Animals, especially during the time of the Prophet to whom the birds were made subservient and he was taught their language, and this was made a miracle for him. Those who read with emphasis intended: So He turned them away from the path so that they would not prostrate, and the preposition was omitted with 'that.' It is possible that 'no' is an addition, and the meaning is: They do not find guidance to prostrate. And whoever read with lightening, it is that they should not prostrate. 'Ala' is for alerting, and 'ya' is the particle of calling, and the one called is omitted, just as it was omitted by the one who said: 'Ala ya Aslimi ya Dar Mayy on the calamity.' And 'Ala' is an introductory call for alerting, so there is no meaning for 'ya' except for calling. The one called is omitted, its estimation is: 'O Dar Mayy, submit,' so it is sufficient with what follows, and its omission is due to the concern for requesting safety for it. In the repetition of its calling: there is a type of lamentation. And Mayy is a diminutive of Miyyah. And the diminutive of the added is a necessity for its beauty preceding the call. And 'Ala' means with, that is: submit even if you are decayed, because if the house does not remain, the traces suffice me. And 'minhalan' means a place, and 'al-jara' is the feminine of 'al-ajra', which is the place mixed with soil and pebbles. And 'al-qatar' means rain, he calls for it with abundance. And in the reading of Abdullah, which is the reading of Al-A'mash: 'Hala', and 'Hala' is by changing the two hamzas into a 'ha'. And from Abdullah: 'Hala tasjudoon' meaning 'Do you not prostrate?' in addressing. And in the reading of Ubayy: 'Ala tasjudoon lillahi الذي يخرج الخبء من السماء والأرض ويعلم سركم وما تعلنون' and He named the hidden as the source: which is the plants and rain and others that He, glorified and exalted is He, has concealed from His unseen. And it was read: 'al-khab', by lightening the hamza by omission. And 'al-khaba', by lightening it by changing it, and this is the reading of Ibn Mas'ud and Malik ibn Dinar. And its justification is that it is derived from the language of those who say in stopping: 'This is the khabu', 'I saw the khaba', and 'I passed by the khabi.' Then he treated the connection like the stopping, not according to the language of those who say: 'al-kam' and 'al-ham', because it is weak and despicable. And it was read: 'yakhfoon' and 'yu'linun', with 'ya' and 'ta'. And it was said: 'From what I have encompassed to the Great One' is the speech of the hoopoe. And it was said: It is the speech of the Lord of Glory. And in bringing forth the hidden: there is a sign that it is from the speech of the hoopoe for its engineering and knowledge of the water underground, that is by inspiration from He who brings forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth, glorified is His might and subtle is His knowledge, and it is hardly hidden from the one with insight, seeing by the light of Allah the signs of every specialist in a craft or a field of knowledge in its appearance and its speech and its characteristics. And for this reason it was reported: No servant performs a deed except that Allah casts upon him the cloak of his deed. If you say: Is the prostration of recitation obligatory in both readings or in one of them?

I said, it is obligatory in both cases, because the places of prostration are either commanded, or praised for those who perform it, or condemned for those who neglect it. One of the readings commands prostration, and the other condemns the neglecter. Abu Hanifa and Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on them, agreed that the prostrations of the Qur'an are fourteen. They only differed regarding the prostration of Surah Sad: it is a prostration of recitation according to Abu Hanifa, and a prostration of gratitude according to Al-Shafi'i. As for the two prostrations of Surah Al-Hajj and what Al-Zajjaj mentioned about the obligation of prostration with ease rather than severity, it is not to be relied upon. If you ask: does the one who pauses differentiate between the two readings? I say: yes, if he lightens the pause, he stops at 'they do not guide' then begins 'that they should not prostrate', and if he wishes, he can pause at 'O that' then begin 'prostrate'. If he intensifies, he does not pause except at 'the Great Throne'. If you ask: how did the hoopoe equate the throne of Bilqis with the Throne of Allah in the description of greatness? I say: there is a great difference between the two descriptions, because the description of her throne as great is an exaltation in relation to the thrones of her kind among the kings. And the description of the Throne of Allah as great is an exaltation in relation to all that He created from the heavens and the earth. And it was read: 'the Great', in the nominative.