It is narrated that Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, and Finhas ibn Azura, and others said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "If you are a true prophet, then bring us a book from the heavens all at once, as it was brought to Moses." [I did not find it like this. And Al-Tabari narrated it through Asbat from al-Suddi, who said, 'The Jews said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him:']

If you are truthful that you are the Messenger of Allah, then bring us a book from the heavens, as Moses brought. So it was revealed. And it was said: A book to so-and-so and a book to so-and-so that you are the Messenger of Allah, and it was said: A book that we can see when it descends. They only proposed that out of obstinacy. Al-Hasan said: If they had asked him to clarify the truth, he would have given it to them, and what he provided them with is enough. They certainly asked Moses for a response to a predetermined condition. Mahmoud said: "They certainly asked Moses for a response to a predetermined condition..." Ahmad said: And this is one of the places where neglect has overtaken him, and he has hinted at following his desires to the abyss of misguidance, because he built on the assumption that the injustice attributed to them was only for the mere fact that they requested to see, which is impossible both rationally and in this world and the Hereafter according to the Qadarites, for it would necessitate, in their view, if it were said that it is permissible, the belief in resemblance. Therefore, the people of the Sunnah, who believe in the permissibility and occurrence of seeing in the Hereafter as a fulfillment of the truthful promise, are called mushabbihah (those who liken Allah to creation), and he neglected the fact that the Jews proposed to Moses, peace be upon him, a specific matter that they attached their faith to, and they did not consider the miracle as it should be considered. They said: "We will not believe you until we see Allah openly." This proposal and obstinacy is enough for them in terms of injustice. Do you not see that those who said, "We will not believe you until a book descends upon us from the heavens, or until the earth bursts forth, or you have a house adorned," how they are among the most unjust of the unjust? And although they only requested permissible matters, they proposed conditions upon Allah, and their right was to base their faith on any miracle that Allah chose. This indicates that their injustice is caused by their proposal, not by the fact that the proposed matter is rationally impossible. It is astonishing to compare this question to the question of Ibrahim about reviving the dead according to the claim of Al-Zamakhshari, neglecting what is implied in the question of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, of clear faith when Allah, the Exalted, said to him: "Did you not believe?" He said: "Yes." And neglecting what is implied in the question of these accursed ones of pure disbelief and insistence upon it in their saying: "We will not believe you." They began their words with denial and negation. As for Al-Zamakhshari's curse upon the people of the Sunnah with calamities and lightning, Allah knows which of the two groups deserves it more, and this neglect is enough for him, which calls out to him for following desires that blind and deafen. We ask Allah for protection from misguidance and deviation. Its meaning is: If you have become arrogant about what they asked of you, then they certainly asked Moses for something greater than that. The question was attributed to them, even though it was found among their forefathers in the days of Moses, who were the seventy leaders, because they were on their doctrine and satisfied with their question, and they were similar to them in obstinacy openly, meaning: We want to see it openly due to their injustice because of their request to see. If they had asked for a permissible matter, they would not have been called unjust, nor would the calamity have befallen them, just as Ibrahim, peace be upon him, asked to see the revival of the dead, and he was not called unjust nor was he struck by calamity. So woe to those who resemble and are struck by calamities. We have given Moses a clear authority, a manifest dominion over them when he commanded them to kill themselves until they repented, and they obeyed him, and they gathered in their courtyards while swords were falling upon them. What a clear authority it was! Due to their covenant, they were to fear and not break it. And We said to them, while the mountain was hovering over them, "Enter the gate prostrating, and do not transgress on the Sabbath." And they took a covenant from them regarding that, and their saying was: "We hear and we obey," and their covenant to fulfill it, then they broke it afterward. And it was read: "Do not transgress" and "Do not transgress" by merging the ت in the د. So due to their breaking, it is said: "By their breaking." And "what" is added for emphasis. If you say: What is the preposition related to? And what is the meaning of the emphasis? Mahmoud said: "If you say: What is the preposition related to in His saying: 'So due to their breaking of their covenant'?" I say: It may relate to an omitted phrase, as if it were said: 'So due to their breaking of their covenant, we did to them what we did.' Or it may relate to His saying: 'We prohibited upon them' on the basis that His saying: 'And due to the injustice of those who were Jews' is a substitute for His saying: 'Due to their breaking.'" This is the end of his words. I say: And the mention of the substitute has a secret, which is that the speech became long after His saying: 'Due to their breaking' until it became distant from its relation, which is 'We prohibited.' The mention of it was strengthened by His saying: 'And due to the injustice of those who were Jews' so that it would follow its relation, and the arrangement came in a way that summarizes what has been detailed before, because all that has preceded of breaking, killing, their saying: 'Our hearts are wrapped,' their disbelief, and their claim of killing the Messiah, the son of Mary, has been summarized in the mentioned summary, with the registration that all their actions that came from them are injustice. There have been precedents for this report, and Allah is the Grantor of success. I say: It may relate to an omitted phrase, as if it were said: 'So due to their breaking of their covenant, we did to them what we did,' or it may relate to His saying: 'We prohibited upon them' on the basis that His saying: 'And due to the injustice of those who were Jews' is a substitute for His saying: 'Due to their breaking of their covenant.' And as for the emphasis, it means confirming that the punishment or prohibition of good things was only due to the breaking of the covenant and what was added to it of disbelief, killing the prophets, and so on. If you say: Why do you not claim that the omitted phrase that the preposition relates to is what is indicated by His saying: 'But Allah has sealed upon them'? I say: This estimation is not correct because His saying: 'But Allah has sealed upon them due to their disbelief' is a rebuttal and denial of their saying: 'Our hearts are wrapped.' Thus, it was related to it, and they intended by their saying: 'Our hearts are wrapped' that Allah created them wrapped, meaning in coverings that nothing of remembrance or admonition can reach them, as Allah mentioned about the polytheists when they said: 'If the Most Merciful had willed, we would not have worshipped them.' And according to the doctrine of the Jabriyyah, may Allah disgrace them, it was said to them: 'Rather, Allah has forsaken them and prevented them from the graces due to their disbelief, so they became as if sealed upon.' Not that they were created wrapped and incapable of remembrance or unable to accept it. If you say: What is the basis for the conjunction of His saying: 'And due to their disbelief'? I say: The point is that it is connected to: 'Due to their breaking' and that His saying: 'But Allah has sealed upon them due to their disbelief' is a statement that follows His saying: 'And they said: Our hearts are wrapped' in a way that is an aside. It is permissible to connect it to what follows it from His saying: 'Due to their disbelief.' If you say: What is the meaning of bringing disbelief as a conjunction to what is mentioned, whether it is connected to what precedes the disjunction or to what follows it, which is His saying: 'And due to their disbelief in the signs of Allah' and His saying: 'Due to their disbelief'?

I said: Their disbelief has been repeated, because they disbelieved in Musa, then in 'Isa, then in Muhammad, blessings of Allah be upon them. Some of their disbelief is connected to others, or the total of what is connected is related to the total of what is being connected to, as if it were said:

So He gathers them between breaking the covenant, and disbelief in the signs of Allah, and killing the prophets, and their saying, "Our hearts are wrapped." And He gathers them between their disbelief and their slander of Maryam, and their boasting about killing 'Isa. We punished them. Or rather, Allah sealed their hearts because of their disbelief and gathered them between their disbelief and so on. The great slander is fornication. If you say: They were disbelievers in 'Isa, may peace be upon him, enemies to him, intent on killing him, calling him the sorcerer son of the sorceress, and the doer son of the doer, how then did they say, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah 'Isa son of Maryam, the Messenger of Allah"? I say: They said it in mockery, like the saying of Pharaoh, "Indeed, your messenger who was sent to you is certainly mad." And it is possible that Allah replaces their ugly mention with a good mention in the narration about them, elevating 'Isa above what they used to mention him with and glorifying what they intended with such a mention, like His saying, "They will surely say, 'The Almighty, the All-Knowing created them.'" It is narrated that a group of Jews insulted him and insulted his mother, so he prayed against them, "O Allah, You are my Lord and by Your word You created me. O Allah, curse whoever insulted me and insulted my mother." So Allah transformed those who insulted them into monkeys and pigs. The Jews then agreed to kill him, and Allah informed him that He would raise him to the heavens and purify him from the companionship of the Jews. He said to his companions: Who among you is pleased to have my likeness cast upon him so that he is killed and crucified and enters Paradise? A man among them said: I am. So his likeness was cast upon him, and he was killed and crucified. It is said that he was a man who was hypocritical towards 'Isa. When they intended to kill him, he said: I will guide you to him. So he entered 'Isa's house, and 'Isa was raised, and his likeness was cast upon the hypocrite. They entered upon him and killed him, thinking he was 'Isa. Then they disagreed; some of them said: He is a god, it is not correct to kill him. Some said: He was killed and crucified. Some said: If this is 'Isa, then where is our companion? And if this is our companion, then where is 'Isa? Some said: He was raised to the heavens. Some said: The face is the face of 'Isa and the body is the body of our companion. If you say: To what is the likeness attributed? If you attribute it to the Messiah, then the Messiah is the one who is likened and not the likener. And if you attribute it to the one who was killed, then the killed one has not been mentioned. I say: It is attributed to the prepositional phrase, which is their saying, like your saying: It was suggested to him, as if it were said: But the likeness occurred to them. And it is possible to attribute it to the pronoun of the killed one because his saying: Indeed, we killed him indicates it, as if it were said: But the one they killed was made to resemble him. Except following conjecture is an exception that is disconnected because following conjecture is not of the same kind as knowledge, meaning: But they follow conjecture. If you say: They were described with doubt and doubt is that one of the two possibilities does not prevail, it was said: And Allah knows best that they were mostly in doubt about him and hesitating, so the first expression came according to what predominates of their state. Then they were not free from conjecture in some states, and at that point they stop, not raising it to knowledge at all. How can something be known contrary to what it is? So the second expression came regarding their rare state of conjecture, negating from them what does not rise above conjecture at all, and Allah knows best. Then they were described with conjecture, and conjecture is that one of them prevails, so how can they be doubting and conjecturing? I say: I mean they are doubting, having no knowledge at all, but if a sign appears to them, they conjecture. So that is: And they did not kill him with certainty, and they did not kill him with certainty, as they claimed in their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah" or it can be made (with certainty) an affirmation of His saying: "And they did not kill him" like your saying: They did not kill him truly, meaning: Truly, the negation of his killing is true. And it is said: It is from their saying: I killed the thing with knowledge and I slaughtered it with knowledge when you reach knowledge of it. And in it is mockery, for when it completely negates knowledge from them with a term of totality. Then it was said: And they did not know him with knowledge of certainty and comprehension, which was only mockery of them. They will surely believe in him as a conditional statement occurring as a description of an omitted subject, meaning: And there is not one of the People of the Book except that he will surely believe in him before his death. And similar to it: "And there is none among us except that he has a known position" and "And there is none of you except that he will enter it." And the meaning is: And there is not one of the Jews and Christians except that he will surely believe in 'Isa before his death, and that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger, meaning: If he sees him before his soul is taken.

I believed that there is no deity except the one in whom the Children of Israel believed. At a time when his faith will not benefit him due to the cessation of the time of obligation. And from Shahr ibn Hawshab: Al-Hajjaj said to me: "An ayah that I have not recited..." Mahmoud said: "And from Shahr ibn Hawshab, Al-Hajjaj said to me: An ayah that I have not recited..." Ahmad said: This interpretation is far from the saying: "And on the Day of Resurrection, He will be a witness against them." Its apparent meaning is a threat, but what is meant by His saying regarding this nation is: "And the Messenger will be a witness against you." And Allah knows best. Except that something of it does not leave my mind. I did not find it. I said: It is in the Tafsir of Al-Kalbi, narrated from Shahr. And I saw it long ago in the Book of the Beginning and the Stories of the Prophets by Wathima with its chain from this route. It means this ayah. And he said: I will bring the captive from the Jews and Christians and strike his neck, so I do not hear from him that. I said: When the Jew is present at death, the angels strike his back and face and say: O enemy of Allah, Moses came to you as a prophet and you denied him. He will say: I believed that he is a servant and a prophet. And you say to the Christian: Jesus came to you as a prophet and you claimed that he is Allah or the son of Allah. He will believe that he is a servant of Allah and His Messenger when his faith will not benefit him. He said: He was reclining, then he sat up and looked at me and said: From whom? I said: Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al-Hanafiyyah narrated to me. He began to scratch the ground with his stick and then said: I took it from a clear source, or from its mine. Al-Kalbi said: I said to him: What did you mean by saying: Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al-Hanafiyyah? He said: I meant to provoke him, meaning by adding the name Ali, because he is well-known as the son of Al-Hanafiyyah. And from Ibn Abbas, he interpreted it likewise. Then 'Ikrimah said to him: If a man comes to him and strikes his neck, he said: His soul does not exit until he moves his lips with it. He said: And if he falls from the top of a house or is burned or eaten by a beast, he said: He will speak it in the air, and his soul does not exit until he believes in it. I did not find it like this. Al-Tabari narrated it from the narration of Asbat from Al-Suddi. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "No Jew dies until he believes in Jesus, son of Mary." A man from his companions said to him: How about the man who drowns or is burned, or a wall falls on him or he is eaten by a beast? He said: His soul does not exit from his body until he casts faith in Jesus, peace be upon him. And it is indicated by the reading of Ubayy: "Except that they will surely believe in him before their death," with the noon being pronounced, meaning: And among them is no one except that he will believe in him before his death, because 'one' is suitable for the plural. If you say: What is the benefit of informing them of their belief in Jesus before their death? I say: Its benefit is the warning, and for them to know that they must believe in him soon upon witnessing, and that this will not benefit them, as a prompt for them and a reminder to hasten to believe in him at the time of benefiting from him, and to be an obligation of proof against them. Likewise, His saying: "And on the Day of Resurrection, He will be a witness against them" witnesses against the Jews that they denied him, and against the Christians that they called him the son of Allah.

The pronouns refer to Jesus, meaning: And there is none among them except that he will certainly believe in Jesus before the death of Jesus. They are the People of the Book who will be present at the time of his descent. It has been narrated that he will descend from the sky in the end of times, and there will remain no one among the People of the Book except that he will believe in him, until the religion becomes one, which is the religion of Islam. Allah will destroy the false messiah during his time, and security will prevail until lions graze with camels, and tigers with cattle, and wolves with sheep. Children will play with snakes, and he will remain on earth for forty years, then he will die, and the Muslims will pray over him and bury him. [This was narrated by Ibn Hibban and Abu Dawood from the narration of Hammam from Qatadah from Abdul Rahman bin Adam from Abu Hurairah in a hadith whose beginning is: 'The prophets, blessings and peace be upon them, are brothers, the sons of different mothers, and their religion is one. I am the closest of people to Jesus son of Mary, because there was no prophet between me and him, and he is coming down. So when you see him, recognize him, for he is a man of medium stature, reddish-white in complexion, with straight hair, as if his head is dripping even though it has not been touched by moisture, between two garments. He will break the cross, kill the pig, and abolish the jizyah, and wealth will abound, and he will fight people for Islam until Allah grants him dominion over all kingdoms except Islam, and so on.' As for his saying at the beginning here, 'There will remain no one among the people of the earth except that he will believe in him,' it was narrated by Al-Tabari from the words of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them.] It is possible that it is meant that there will remain no one from all the People of the Book except that he will certainly believe in him, on the condition that Allah revives them in their graves at that time, and informs them of his descent and what he has been sent for, and they will believe in him when their belief will not benefit them. It was said: The pronoun in 'in him' refers back to Allah, the Exalted. It was said: It refers to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him.