The Jews are likened to those who carry the Torah, read it, and preserve what is in it. Yet they do not act upon it nor benefit from its verses. This is because it contains the description of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the good news about him, but they did not believe in him. They are like a donkey that carries books, meaning large volumes of knowledge, walking with them but knowing nothing of them except what passes by its sides and back in terms of toil and fatigue. Anyone who knows but does not act upon his knowledge is like this. And how evil is the example! How evil is the example of the people who denied the verses of Allah! They are the Jews who denied the verses of Allah that indicate the truth of the prophethood of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The meaning of 'they were burdened with the Torah' is that they were tasked with knowing it and acting upon it. Then they did not carry it, so it is as if they did not carry it at all. It has been recited: 'they carried the Torah,' meaning they carried it but did not truly carry it due to their lack of action. It has also been recited: 'the donkey carries books.' If you say: what is the position of 'carries'? I say: it is in the accusative case as a state. [Mahamud said: 'It may be that the saying 'carries' is a state, like the saying: And indeed I pass by the mean one who insults me. Ahmad said: The intended meaning here is the genus, so the definition and the indefinite are the same.], or it is in the genitive case as a description, because the donkey is like the mean one in the saying: And indeed I pass by the mean one who insults me.