Say, "All praise is due to Allah," as an obligation upon them to acknowledge that the one who created the heavens and the earth is Allah alone, and that praise and gratitude must be for Him. And that no one should be worshipped alongside Him. Then He said, "But most of them do not know that this is obligatory upon them, and when they are reminded of it, they do not pay attention. Indeed, Allah is the Self-Sufficient, in need of the praise of the praisers, deserving of praise, even if they do not praise Him.

It has been read: "and the sea," in the accusative, as an addition to the subject of 'inna,' and in the nominative, as an addition to the position of 'inna,' and its object is on.

And if the statement [of 'and its object is on: and if it were established'] is meant: as if to say, 'and if the trees were pens,' and the sea was extended with seven seas. Or as a beginning, and the 'wa' is for the state, meaning: 'And if the trees were pens while the sea was extended.' And in the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: 'And a sea that extends it,' in the indefinite form, and this must be interpreted in the first way. And it has been read: 'extends it,' and 'extends it,' with the 'ta' and the 'ya.' If you say: The implication of the speech should have been that it was said: 'And if the trees were pens, and the sea was ink.' I say: The mention of the ink is unnecessary because of the saying: 'extends it,' because it is from your saying: 'to extend the inkpot and to provide it.' He made the great sea like the inkpot, and made the seven seas filled with ink, so they pour into it their ink continuously without interruption. The meaning is: 'And if the trees of the earth were pens, and the sea was extended with seven seas. And if the words of Allah were written with those pens and with that ink, His words would not run out, nor would the pens and the ink run out,' as His saying: 'Say, if the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord would be exhausted.' If you say: You claimed that the saying 'and the sea extends it' is a state in one of the two ways of the nominative, and there is no pronoun referring back to the subject of the state. I say: It is like His saying: 'And he set out while the birds were in their nests.'

And you came while the army was lined up, and similar cases whose ruling is like that of the circumstances. And it may be that the meaning is: 'And its sea,' and the pronoun refers to the earth. If you say: Why was it said 'from a tree' in the singular rather than the generic name which is 'trees'? I say: It is meant to detail the trees and to specify them one by one, so that not a single one of the species of trees remains except that it has been made into pens. If you say: The words are a plural of few, and the place is a place of many, so why was it not said: 'The word of Allah'? I say: Its meaning is that His words do not suffice for what the seas would write, so how about a single word?

And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both: It was revealed in response to the Jews when they said, 'We have been given the Torah, and in it is all wisdom.' And it was said that the polytheists said: 'This refers to the revelation - a speech that will run out.' So Allah informed that His speech does not run out. And this verse, according to some, is Medinan, and it was revealed after the migration, while others said it is Meccan. And it was only commanded that the Jews and the Quraysh say to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'Are you not reciting what has been revealed to you: 'Indeed, we have been given the Torah, and in it is knowledge of all things? Indeed, Allah is Exalted, not unable to do anything, Wise, nothing escapes His knowledge and wisdom, and similarly, His words and His decrees do not run out.'