The man would go out traveling and pass by a bird, and he would scare it away. If it passed to the right, he would take it as a good omen, and if it passed to the left, he would take it as a bad omen. When they attributed good and evil to the bird, it was borrowed for what was caused by them from the decree of Allah and His division: or from the actions of the servant, which are the cause of mercy and punishment. Hence, they said: 'The bird of Allah, not your bird,' meaning: the prevailing decree of Allah, to which good and evil are attributed, not your bird that you take as an omen for good or bad. When they said: 'We take an omen from you,' it means: we took it as a bad omen, and they had been afflicted with drought. He said: 'Your omen is with Allah,' meaning: your cause from which your good and evil comes is with Allah, and it is His decree and division. If He wills, He provides for you, and if He wills, He deprives you. It may also mean: your actions are recorded with Allah, from which what has befallen you has descended, as punishment for you and a trial. From this is His saying: 'Your omen is with you,' and 'Every person We have bound his omen to his neck.' And it has been recited: 'We took an omen from you,' according to the original. The meaning of 'to take an omen with it' is to take it as a bad omen. And to take an omen from it means to flee from it. You will be tested or punished, or the devil will tempt you with his whispering to you about the omen.