I will cast him into Sakar, instead of saying I will overwhelm him with ascent. It does not leave anything thrown into it except that it destroys it. And when it is destroyed, it does not leave it destroyed until it is returned. Or it does not remain on anything nor does it leave it from destruction, rather everything thrown into it is certainly doomed, a blazing fire from the scorching heat. He said:

It says, what has scorched you, O traveler... O daughter of my uncle, the scorching heat has scorched me. [The scorching heat has darkened it: it has changed it and made it black. The scorching heat: the intensity of heat. And the people traveled in the scorching heat, and it is the time of the intense heat, as if he addressed another first. And he is astonished by her questioning about the apparent reason, which is travel, but she acknowledges that he is a traveler as she said, and from the hardness of her heart towards him, then he turned to her in response to her question. And in her calling there is a meaning of alerting, awakening, and seeking compassion.]

It is said. The skin is scorched with a scorching heat, leaving it darker than the night. And the flesh: the upper parts of the skin. And from Al-Hasan.

It appears to the people, as His saying: Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty. And it was recited: Lawaaha, in the accusative for the purpose of exaggeration. Nineteen will be in charge of it and will dominate its people, nineteen angels. And it was said: a type of angels.

And it was said: a description. And it was said: a leader. And it was recited: nineteen, with the 'ayn (letter) being silent due to the succession of movements in what is considered a single name. And it was recited: nine-teen, the plural of 'ashir, like: yameen and ayyman. They were made angels because they are of a different kind from those who are punished among the jinn and mankind. They are not affected by what affects their kind in terms of compassion and tenderness, nor do they seek comfort from them. And because they are the most upright of Allah's creation in truth and in anger for Him, their gentleness is assured. And because they are the strongest of creation and the mightiest in power. From 'Amr ibn Dinar: one of them pushes with a single push in Hell more than Rabee'ah and Mudar. And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Their eyes are like lightning, and their mouths are like the fortresses. They drag their hair, and one of them has the strength of the two weighty ones. One of them drives the nation and on his neck is a mountain, and he throws them into the fire and throws the mountain upon them." It was narrated that when it was revealed: 'Nineteen,' Abu Jahl said to the Quraysh: "May your mothers lose you, I hear Ibn Abi Kabshah telling you that the keepers of the Fire are nineteen, and you are the dark ones. Is it impossible for every ten of you to overpower one of them?" Then Abu al-Ashad ibn Asid ibn Kulthum al-Jumahi, who was very strong, said: "I will suffice you with seventeen, so you suffice me with two." Then Allah revealed: "And We did not make the companions of the Fire except angels," meaning We did not make them men of your kind who can be endured. If you say: the trial of the disbelievers by the number of the guardians is a reason for the certainty of the People of the Book and an increase in the faith of the believers and mockery of the disbelievers and hypocrites, it was said: "If you say that the trial of the disbelievers by the number is a reason for that, then the number itself is what made it a reason. For the intended meaning is: 'And We did not make their number except nineteen,' thus placing 'a trial for those who disbelieved' in place of 'nineteen.' For the state of this incomplete number, one less than twenty, is that it will cause trial for those who do not believe in Allah and His wisdom and do not submit, even if the wisdom's aspect is hidden from them, as if it were said: 'Indeed, We made their number a cause of trial for the certainty of the believers and the confusion of the disbelievers and the certainty of the People of the Book.' It was said: the questioner made the trial, which is in the estimation of the description, the number, while the responder made the number that this description was presented to a cause, not considering the description's occurrence to it. And it is possible that 'to be certain' returns to what is before the exception, as if it were said: 'We made their number a cause for the trial of the disbelievers and a cause for the certainty of the believers.' This interpretation is closer than what al-Zamakhshari mentioned, and he was compelled to it by believing that Allah did not test them but they tested themselves, based on the principle of partiality in will, and what a wretched principle it is, so beware of it. What is the validity of that? I said: The trial of their number is not a reason for that, but rather the number itself is what made it a reason. And that is because the intended meaning of His saying: 'And We did not make their number except a trial for those who disbelieved,' and 'We did not make their number except nineteen,' thus placing 'a trial for those who disbelieved' in place of 'nineteen.' For the state of this incomplete number, one less than twenty, is that it will cause trial for those who do not believe in Allah and His wisdom and object and mock, and do not submit as the believer submits, even if the aspect of wisdom is hidden from them, as if it were said.

And We have certainly made their number a number by which they may be tempted, for the certainty of the believers and the confusion of the disbelievers and the certainty of the People of the Book. This is because their number is nineteen in the two scriptures. So when they hear something like it in the Qur'an, they are certain that it is revealed from Allah. And the increase of the believers in faith is due to their affirmation of that, just as they affirmed all that was revealed. And when they saw the submission of the People of the Book and their affirmation that it is so. If you say: Why did He say, 'And let not those who were given the Scripture and the believers doubt'? And the certainty and increase in faith indicates the absence of doubt? I say: Because when certainty is established for them and doubt is negated, it is more emphatic and more effective in describing them. [Mahrud said: 'And His saying, 'And let not those who were given the Scripture doubt,' after His saying, 'So that they may be certain,' is to achieve the benefit of combining the establishment of certainty... etc.' Ahmad said: He attributed the purpose to Allah, the Exalted, although it is misleading, and there is no hearing intended in it.] And he presented the question on his basis after all this, that Allah did not intend the words of the hypocrites and disbelievers, but they spoke contrary to what He intended. And you have known the invalidity of the basis, so free your mind from this question. All is intended, and suffice it to complete the verse: 'Thus Allah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills.' With tranquility of the soul and coolness of the chest, and because it implies the condition of those other than them, as if he said: And let their condition be different from the condition of the doubters and those in doubt from the hypocrites and disbelievers. If you say: How did he mention those in whose hearts is a disease, and they are the hypocrites, while the surah is Meccan, and there was no hypocrisy in Mecca, but it emerged in Medina? I say: Its meaning is that the hypocrites who will emerge in the future in Medina after the migration will say, 'And the disbelievers in Mecca, what did Allah intend by this example?' And there is nothing in that except informing about what will be, like other reports about the unseen, and that does not contradict the fact that the surah is Meccan. And it is possible that what is meant by disease is doubt and uncertainty, because most of the people of Mecca were doubting, and some of them were certain of the lie. If you say: He has justified making them nineteen by certainty and the absence of doubt and the words of the hypocrites and disbelievers, so suppose that certainty and the absence of doubt can be two purposes, how can the words of the hypocrites and disbelievers be a purpose? I say: The 'lam' indicates the meaning of the cause and reason, and it is not necessary for the cause to be a purpose. Do you not see your saying: 'I left the town out of fear of evil'? You have made fear a reason for your departure, although it is not your purpose. An example to distinguish this, or a state of it, like His saying: 'This is the she-camel of Allah for you as a sign.' If you say: Why did they call it an example? I say: It is a metaphor from the proverb. Because it is something strange in speech and innovative, they found it strange regarding this number and innovative in it. The meaning is: What did Allah intend by this astonishing number, and what purpose did He intend by making the angels nineteen and not twenty? Their intent is to deny it from its origin, and that it is not from Allah, and that if it were from Allah, it would not have come with this deficient number. The 'kaf' in 'Thus' is in the accusative, and that refers to what preceded it of the meaning of misguidance and guidance.

The like of that mentioned regarding misguidance and guidance misleads the disbelievers and guides the believers. It means: He does a good deed based on wisdom and correctness. The believers see it as wisdom and submit to it, believing that all of Allah's actions are good and wise, which increases their faith. The disbelievers deny it and doubt it, which increases them in disbelief and misguidance. And no one knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him. Every group has a specific number, some of which are complete and some of which are incomplete. The wisdom in the specification of each group by its number is known only to Him, and no one has the means to know that, just as no one knows the wisdom in the numbers of the heavens, the earths, the days of the year, the months, the zodiac signs, the planets, and the numbers of the expiations, limits, and prayers in the Sharia. Or: No one knows the soldiers of your Lord due to their overwhelming number except Him. It is not difficult for Him to complete the keepers to twenty, but there is wisdom in this specific number that you do not know, and He knows it. It is said that this is a response to what Abu Jahl said: 'Does Muhammad have helpers other than nineteen?' And we did not make the companions of the Fire—up to His saying—except Him: this is an interruption. And His saying: 'And it is nothing but a reminder' is connected to the description of Saqar, and it refers to it, meaning: 'And what is Saqar and its description is nothing but a reminder for mankind,' or it refers to the verses in which it was mentioned.