They commanded them to follow their way, which is their method that they were upon in their religion. And they commanded themselves to bear their sins, thus connecting one command to another. They intended: for these two commands to come together in that you follow our way and that you bear your sins. The meaning is: linking the burden to the following. This is the saying of the leaders of Quraysh: they would say to those among them who believed: we will not be resurrected, nor will you, so if that happens, we will bear the sin for you. And we see among those who are called Muslims, some who emulate those and say to their companion—when they want to encourage him to commit some great sins—: do this and its sin is upon my neck. And how many have been deceived by such a guarantee from the weak of the common people and their ignorance. Among this is what is narrated that Abu Ja'far al-Mansur was presented with some needs by certain people of excess, and when he fulfilled them, he said: O Commander of the Faithful, there remains the greatest need. He said: And what is it? He said: Your intercession on the Day of Resurrection. Amr ibn Ubaid, may Allah have mercy on him, said to him: Beware of these, for they are highway robbers in safety. [Mahran said: 'And some who are called Muslims, when they want to encourage their companion to sin, say to him: do this and its sin is upon my neck. Among this is what is narrated that a man presented his needs to al-Mansur, and when he fulfilled them, he said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have a need that is the greatest. He said: And what is it? He said: Your intercession in the gathering. Amr said: O Commander of the Faithful, beware of these, for they are highway robbers in safety.' Ahmad said: Amr ibn Ubaid is the first of the Qadarites who deny intercession, so beware of him. And the verse is not in accordance with the narration, but al-Zamakhshari builds on the idea that there is no difference between believing in intercession and believing that the disbelievers bear the sins of their followers, and for that reason he presented them in one context. We seek refuge in Allah from that. And in the saying of Allah, 'Indeed, they are liars,' there is a good point from which one can infer the correctness of the coming of the command in the meaning of news, for there are some people who denied it and insisted on deriving all that was mentioned in that on the basis of command, and he could not achieve that in this verse, because Allah, the Exalted, followed their saying: 'And we will bear your sins,' with the form of command by saying 'Indeed, they are liars,' and the denial can only be applied to news.] If you say: how did He call them liars, while they guaranteed something that Allah knew they would not be able to fulfill? And the one who guarantees what he does not know he can fulfill is not called a liar, neither when he guaranteed nor when he failed, because in both cases he does not fall under the definition of a liar, which is one who informs about something not as it is? I say: Allah likened their state, knowing that what they guaranteed has no way for them to fulfill it, so their guarantee with Him is not as that which is guaranteed by the liars whose news is not as it is. And it may be that He means they are liars because they said that while their hearts are contrary to it, like the liars who promise something while their hearts have the intention of breaking it. 'And they will bear their own burdens' means the burdens of themselves 'and burdens' meaning other burdens besides the sins that they guaranteed the believers to carry, which are the burdens of those who were the cause of their misguidance. 'And they will be questioned with a questioning of reproach about what they used to fabricate' means what they used to invent of lies and falsehoods. And it was read: 'from their sins.'