It is Meccan, and it consists of one hundred and eighty-one verses, and it is said: eighty-two [revealed after Al-An'am]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

Allah, glorified and exalted is He, swears by the groups of angels or by their souls, who stand in rows with their feet in prayer, from His saying: 'And indeed, we are the ones who stand in rows,' or by their wings in the air, standing and waiting for the command of Allah. 'By those who drive the clouds in a rush,' and 'by those who recite the words of Allah from the revealed books and others.' It is said that the 'standing' refers to birds, from His saying: 'And the birds are standing,' and the 'driving' refers to everything that is restrained from the disobedience of Allah. The 'reciters' refer to everyone who recites the Book of Allah. It is permissible to swear by the souls of the scholars who stand in rows during night prayer and other prayers, and the rows of congregations. The 'driving' refers to admonitions and advice, and the 'reciting' refers to the verses of Allah and the studying of His laws. Or by the souls of the leaders of the warriors in the path of Allah, who arrange the rows and urge the horses for jihad, and recite the remembrance.

[Muhammad said: 'What is sworn by are the groups of angels or their souls, and the intended meaning is their standing in prayer and their driving of the clouds, meaning their leading and their reciting the remembrance of Allah, or the scholars, and the intended meaning is their standing in rows in prayer and their admonishing with advice against sins and their reciting the remembrance... until he said: ... 'And the distinction among the groups may be either that the first is the best or vice versa.' Ahmad said: It is permissible that their arrangement in preference is such that the first is the best or vice versa, and he did not clarify the reason for each one of them in terms of the art of eloquence, and we will clarify it. We say: The reason for beginning with the best is the attention to the most important. So it is presented, and the reason for the opposite is the elevation from the lower to the higher, and from it is His saying:

'By it, a night among them is Ja'far and the son of his mother... and among them is Ahmad the one who is humble.'

And it is not said: 'This is only permissible because the conjunction does not imply rank,' for this is at most an excuse, and what we have mentioned is an explanation of what is in it of the requirements of eloquence and rhetoric. In this verse, there is evidence for the opinion of Sibawayh and Al-Khalil regarding something like 'By the night when it covers' and 'By the day when it shines,' for they say: The second conjunction and what follows it are conjunctions, while others hold that they are particles of oath. Thus, the occurrence of the conjunction in this verse in place of the conjunction and the meaning is the same, except that what the conjunction adds in terms of arrangement is clear evidence that the conjunction occurring in such a context is for conjunction and not for oath.]

With that, it does not occupy them from those distractions, as is narrated about Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. If you say: What is the ruling of the conjunction when it comes as a conjunction in the attributes? I say: It may indicate the arrangement of their meanings in existence, as in His saying:

'O woe to the one who is eager for the morning harvest... the victorious, then the returning.'

As if it were said: The one who harvested in the morning, then won, then returned. Or it may indicate their arrangement in terms of difference in some respects, as when you say: Take the best, then the complete, and do the best, then the most beautiful. Or it may indicate the arrangement of their descriptions in that, as in His saying:

'May Allah have mercy on those who shave, then those who shorten.' So, according to these three rules, the matter of the conjunction in the attributes proceeds.

If you say: Then according to which of these rules is it in what you are addressing? I say: If you unify the described, it is to indicate the arrangement of the attributes in preference, and if you divide it into three, it is to indicate the arrangement of the described in it. The explanation of that is: If you apply these descriptions to the angels and make them encompassing of them, then the conjunction by the conjunction indicates an arrangement for them in virtue: either that the virtue is for the standing, then for the driving, then for the reciting, or vice versa. Likewise, if you intend the scholars and the leaders of the warriors. And if you apply the first attribute to groups and the second and third to others, it has indicated the arrangement of the described in virtue, meaning that the standing groups have virtue, and the driving ones are better, and the reciting ones are of greater virtue, or vice versa. Likewise, if you intended by the standing:

The birds, and by those who drive away: everything that drives away from disobedience. And by those who recite: every soul that recites the remembrance. The descriptions are different. It is recited with the 'taa' merged into the 'saa', 'zaa', and 'dhaal'. 'The Lord of the heavens' is a news after news. Or it is a news of a subject that is omitted. And the east is three hundred and sixty east points, and likewise the west: the sun rises every day in one of the east points and sets in one of the west points, and it does not rise or set in one of the two days. If you say: What did he mean by saying 'The Lord of the two east points and the Lord of the two west points'? I say: He meant the east points of summer and winter and their west points.