Meccan [except for verses 23, 24, 25, and 27 which are Medinan] and its verses are 53 [revealed after Surah Fussilat]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with them, read: 'Haa Meem. Thus is revealed to you,' meaning like that revelation. Or like that revelation. Or like that book is revealed to you and to the messengers before you. Allah means that what this surah contains of meanings has been revealed by Allah to you similar to it in other surahs, and He revealed it before you to His messengers, in the sense that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, repeated these meanings in the Qur'an in all the heavenly books, due to the profound admonition and great kindness in it for His servants from the first and the last. And He did not say: 'revealed to you,' but in the present tense, to indicate that revealing similar to it is His custom. And it is read: 'is revealed to you,' in the passive voice.

If you say: What raises the name of Allah in this reading? I say: What is indicated by 'is revealed,' as if someone said: Who is the revealer? It was said: Allah, like the reading of As-Sulami: 'And thus has it been made attractive to many of the polytheists to kill their children, their partners,' in the passive voice, and the partners are raised, meaning: their partners made it attractive to them. If you say: What raises it for those who read 'is revealed' with the letter 'n'? I say: It is raised by being the subject. And 'the Mighty' and what follows it: are news, or 'the Mighty, the Wise': are two attributes, and the adverb is the predicate. It is read: 'almost,' with 'taa' and 'yaa.' And 'they will split,' and 'they will be split.' Yunus narrated from Abu Amr a rare reading: 'they will be split' with two 'taa's and with the 'n,' and its analogy is a rare letter, narrated in the rarities of Ibn Al-A'rabi: 'the camels are sniffing.' And its meaning is: they are about to split due to the greatness of Allah and His majesty, as indicated by its coming after 'the Most High, the Most Great.' And it was said: from their calling Him a son, as His saying, glorified and exalted is He, 'The heavens almost split apart from Him.'

If you say: Why did He say 'from above them'? I say: Because the greatest signs and the most indicative of majesty and greatness are above the heavens, which are: the Throne, and the Chair, and the rows of angels engaged in glorification and sanctification around the Throne, and what is known only to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, from the effects of His great dominion. Therefore, He said: 'they will be split from above them,' meaning the splitting begins from their upper side. Or: because the word of disbelief came from those beneath the heavens, so it would be appropriate to say: 'they will be split from beneath them,' from the direction from which the word came. However, it has been exaggerated in this, so it was made effective in the upper direction, as if it were said: 'they are about to split from the direction above them, leaving aside the direction beneath them.' An analogy of this exaggeration is His saying, exalted and mighty is He: 'boiling water will be poured down upon their heads, which will melt what is in their bellies,' thus making the boiling water effective in their inner parts. And it was said: 'from above them' means: from above the earth.

If you say: How is it correct that they seek forgiveness for those on earth while among them are the disbelievers, the enemies of Allah? And Allah, the Exalted, has said: 'Those are upon whom is the curse of Allah and the angels.' So how can they be cursing and seeking forgiveness for them? I say: His saying 'for those on earth' indicates the category of the people of the earth. This category exists in all of them and in some of them, so it is permissible that it refers to both. The evidence indicates that the angels do not seek forgiveness except for the allies of Allah, who are the believers, and Allah intends only them. Do you not see His saying in Surah Al-Mu'min: 'And they seek forgiveness for those who believe,' and His narration about them: 'So forgive those who repent and follow Your way'? How they described those for whom they seek forgiveness with what warrants seeking forgiveness, and they did not leave any hope for those who did not repent among the believers in seeking forgiveness for them, so how about the disbelievers? It is possible that they mean by seeking forgiveness: requesting forbearance and pardon in His saying: 'Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth from passing away,' until He said: 'Indeed, He was Forbearing, Forgiving.' And His saying: 'Indeed, your Lord is the Possessor of Forgiveness for the people for their wrongdoing,' and the intended meaning is: forbearance towards them and not hastening them with punishment, which would be general. If you say: I have interpreted His saying: 'The heavens almost rupture' with two interpretations, what is the relation of what follows to them? I say: As for one of them, it is as if it were said: The heavens almost rupture in awe of His majesty and in respect of His greatness, and the angels who fill the seven heavens and surround the Throne in rows after rows continue - in submission to His greatness - to worship Him, glorify Him, and praise Him, and they seek forgiveness for those on earth out of fear for them from His might. And as for the second, it is as if it were said: They almost rupture from the audacity of the people of polytheism upon that heinous word, while the angels declare the oneness of Allah and glorify Him from what is not permissible for Him of the attributes that the ignorant attribute to Him, praising Him for the favors He has bestowed upon them, knowing that they will seek refuge in them, choosing freely without compulsion, and seeking forgiveness for the believers among the people of the earth who have disavowed that word and its people. Or they request from their Lord to forbear towards the people of the earth and not to hasten them with punishment despite that being among them, due to what they know of the benefits in that, and out of eagerness for the salvation of creation, and hope for the repentance of the disbelievers and the sinful among them.