‘Asee't wa ‘aseetum: the language of the people of Hijaz. As for the Banu Tamim, they say: ‘Aasa an taf‘ala, wa ‘Aasa an taf‘aloo, and they do not attach the pronouns. Nafi’ read it with a kasrah on the seen, which is strange. The speech has been shifted from the third person to the second person in a manner of addressing, to be more emphatic in confirmation. If you say: What is the meaning of: 'So do you expect... to cause corruption in the land?' I say: Its meaning is: Is corruption expected from you? If you say: How can this be correct in the words of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, who knows what has been and what will be? I say: Its meaning is that you—due to what has been known from you—are more deserving of being told by anyone who has tasted you and recognized your weakness and looseness in faith: 'O you people, what do you see? Is it expected from you that when you take charge of the affairs of the people and command over them, based on what has been evident from you and what has appeared from your signs, that you will cause corruption in the land and sever your ties of kinship, fighting over kingship and rushing towards the world?' It was said: If you turn away and neglect the religion of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and his Sunnah, will you return to what you were upon in ignorance, causing corruption in the land: through conflict and plundering, and severing the ties of kinship: by fighting some relatives against others and burying daughters alive? And it was read: 'And you will sever' [[The phrase 'And it was read' likely refers to the passive construction, as well as 'you have turned away' in the reading of ‘Ali.]]. In the reading of Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him: 'You have turned away,' meaning: If oppressive leaders take charge of you, you will go out with them and walk under their banners and cause corruption by their corruption? And it was read: 'And you will sever,' and 'you will sever,' from severing and cutting. Those are a reference to the mentioned ones; may Allah curse them for their corruption and severing of kinship, preventing them from His kindness and forsaking them, until they became deaf to listening to the admonition and blind to seeing the path of guidance. It is possible that by 'those who believed' he means the sincere steadfast believers, who long for revelation when it is delayed upon them. When a chapter was revealed regarding jihad, you would see the hypocrites among themselves becoming restless about it.