Like the Day of the Confederates, like their days. This is because when he attributed it to the confederates and explained them as the people of Noah, 'Aad, and Thamud, and it was not concealed that each group among them had a day of destruction, he limited it to one from the plural. This is because the addition to it suffices for that, as in his saying: Eat in part of your bellies so that you may be chaste. That is, eat in part of your bellies. He singled out the belly to avoid ambiguity, meaning: do not fill them up, for if you obey me, you will refrain from food. And 'af' means to refrain, with a kasra on the 'ain of the present tense, from the same category as 'daraba' (to strike). Then he said: for your time is a time of drought. The term 'khamees' refers to a lean belly. He likened the drought to a hungry man in a figurative way, and described it as lean to illustrate that.] ]

And Al-Zajjaj said: Like the Day of a Party, and the diligence of these people is their persistent work in disbelief, denial, and other sins. Their being persistent and constant in this does not cease. There must be an omitted addition, meaning: like the reward for their diligence. If you say: What made the second 'like' stand? I say: It is an appositive to the first 'like' because the last thing that the addition addressed was the people of Noah. If you say: Allah destroyed the confederates: the people of Noah, 'Aad, and Thamud, it would only be an appositive to the addition of a people to names. Thus, that ruling extends to the first thing that the addition addressed. And Allah does not intend injustice for the servants, meaning that their destruction was just and fair because they deserved it by their actions. This is more eloquent than His saying: And your Lord is not unjust to the servants, where He made the negation the intention of injustice. Because whoever is far from the intention of injustice is further from injustice. And when He made injustice indefinite, it is as if He negated the intention of any injustice towards His servants. This saying is according to the doctrine of the Mu'tazila, who believe that He does not do evil nor intends it, and that intention means approval. According to the Ahl al-Sunnah, He creates evil and intends it just like good, but He does not approve of evil. Thus, approval is different from intention according to them, as established in Tawhid. It is possible that its meaning is like the meaning of His saying: And He does not approve disbelief for His servants, meaning that He does not want them to be unjust, indicating that He destroyed them because they were unjust. Mahmoud said: It is possible that its meaning is like: And your Lord is not unjust to the servants. This is more eloquent because if He did not intend injustice, He would be further from committing injustice. And since He made injustice indefinite, it is as if He negated the intention of any injustice towards His servants. Ahmad said: This is of the first class, and the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah regarding the intention of Allah differs from this and its followers.