27. Although the word “malak” is single, here it is used, as Akhfash said, in plural (Qurtubi).

28. How can the idol-worshippers depend on the intercession of their idols – which are no more than lifeless things, when the living angels, and among them those closest in ranks, will have no independent power of intercession? (Razi).

Yusuf Ali adds: “We are apt to imagine the angelic host of heaven as beings of immense power. But their power is all derived from Allah. Men, when they attain to the highest spiritual dignities, may have even more power and position than angels in the sight of Allah, as in typified by angels being bidden to bow down to Adam: ii. 34. The Quraish superstition about angels being intermediaries and intercessors for man with Allah is condemned.”

29. That is, not every angel will be able to intercede, but only he who is allowed, and for him whom Allah considers worthy of intercession (Alusi).

30. The allusion is to the belief in angels as the daughters of Allah (Qurtubi, Alusi).

Asad explains further: “As the Qur’an points out in many places, the people spoken of in this context do believe in life after death, inasmuch as they express the hope that the angels and the imaginary deities which they worship will ‘mediate’ between them and God, and will ‘intercede’ for them. However, their belief is far too vague to make them realize that the quality of man’s life in the hereafter does not depend on such outside factors but is causal, and directly connected with the manner of his life in this world: and so the Qur’an declares that their attitude is, for all practical purposes, not so much different from the attitude of people who reject the idea of a hereafter altogether.”

31. Hence a hadith of the Sahihayn. It says,

إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ فَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ أَكْذَبُ الْحَدِيثِ

“Beware of conjecture for conjecture is the most deceitful of talk” (Ibn Kathir).

Alusi adds: The conjecture that is disallowed here is concerned with such affairs as have received clear instructions. But when instructions are absent, one has no choice but to resort to analogy.

32. “After demonstrating the weakness of the deities of those who do not believe in the Hereafter, after referring to the foolishness involved in their worship .. and after reference to those who attribute daughters to Allah, giving them female names, the Qur’an now turns to the Prophet to tell him that he ought not to give his mind any serious thought about them, but rather, shun them, and leave their affair to Allah who knows the good-doers of them as well as the evil-doers; who will reward the former and punish the latter. His are the affairs of the heavens and the earth as well as the affairs of this world and the Hereafter. He will hold them to account in keeping with the demands of justice, without doing any wrong to anyone; who will forgive the sins over which its perpetrators did not insist; who has the knowledge of the seeds and the folded things, for, He is the Creator of the human beings, knower of their natures, and aware of every aspect of their lives” (Sayyid).

33. That is, to attain the material things of this world is the ultimate reach of their knowledge. A hadith (of Tirmidhi rated Hasan Ghareeb) says,

لا تَجْعَلْ الدُّنْيَا أَكْبَرَ هَمِّنَا وَلا مَبْلَغَ عِلْمِنَا

The Prophet used to supplicate in words, “(O Allah), Do not make this world our main concern, nor the ultimate reach of our knowledge.” Indeed, it is only the ignorant who go after this world. A hadith (treated trustworthy by Mundhiri, `Iraqi and Haythami: Au.) says,

الدُّنْيَا دَارُ مَنْ لا دَارَ لَهُ وَمَالُ مَنْ لا مَالَ لَهُ وَلَهَا يَجْمَعُ مَنْ لا عَقْلَ لَهُ

قال المنذري والحافظ العراقي : إسناده جيد وقال الهيثمي : رجال أحمد رجال الصحيح غير دويل وهو ثقة.) فيض القدير(

i.e., “This world is the home of him who has no home (in the Hereafter), wealth for him who has no wealth and none hoards it but he who has no sense” (Ibn Kathir).

Yusuf Ali adds: “Men with a materialist turn of mind, whose desires are bounded by sex and material things, will not go beyond those things. Their knowledge will be limited to the narrow circle in which their thoughts move. The spiritual world is beyond their ken. While persons with a spiritual outlook, even though they may fail again and again in attaining their full ideals, are on the right Path. They are willing to receive guidance and Allah's Grace will find them out and help them.”

Sayyid comments: “The utmost of knowledge that these misguided ones possess appears to the common people - those who are short of heart, scant of understanding and feelings – as something great that greatly influences and shapes the life of this world. That might be true. But, being influential does not deny them the quality of misguidance in the ultimate truth, nor the qualities of ignorance and insignificance.

True knowledge has to have two necessary elements: true relationship between the Creator of this world and the creations, and true relationship between man’s deeds and its retribution. Without the understanding of these two, knowledge is reduced to the equivalent of the outer skin of the fruit, incapable of influencing man’s life, its progress, and its rise .. Without these, it amounts to no more than the development of tools and equipment while man retards. Of what worth is a knowledge which allows for the progress of tools and equipment at the cost of the human (soul)?”

34. Yusuf Ali comments: “All deeds have their consequences, good or ill. But this is not an iron law, as the Determinists in philosophy, or the preachers of bare Karma, would have us believe. Allah does not sit apart. He governs the world. And Mercy as well as Justice are His attributes. In His Justice every deed or word or thought of evil has its consequence for the doer or speaker or thinker. But there is always in this life room for repentance and amendment. As soon as this is forthcoming, Allah's Mercy comes into action. It can blot out our evil, and the ‘reward’ which it gives is nearly always greater than our merits.”

35. The allusion is to fornication and acts leading to it (Tabari).

The difference between major sins and the obscene is that of quantity and quality. The term “kabaa’ir” expresses the sense of monstrosity while “faahisha” expresses its nature of being disgusting (Razi).

36. Lit., “lamam” is for that which is near (Penrice), but there are other meanings such as, that which is small and little; that which is infrequent (Shawkani); or that which you touch and go (Au.); the great majority have, however, taken it to mean minor sins. But some have believed, Sayyid included, that it is major sins that a man commits in heedlessness, but soon repents.

Nonetheless, one might warn that division of sins into major and minor are human conventions. In view of Allah’s greatness, every intentionally committed sin is a major sin, no matter how insignificant. If any sin is minor, it is in reference to the humans. This is the reason why there is no agreement over the total number of major sins. When Ibn `Abbas was asked whether major sins were not seven, he answered that they were closer to being seven hundred (Alusi).

In explanation of “lamam” the following is reported of Ibn Mas`ud. He said, “Fornication of the eyes is to see, of the lips is in kissing, of the hands in holding and of the feet in stepping (towards it). Then, the sexual organ accepts or rejects. If he goes ahead with his private parts, he is a fornicator. If he does not, then the other acts become ‘lamam.’” There is a hadith too, (of the Sahihayn: Ibn Kathir) which confirms a part of the above report and tells us that Ibn `Abbas held the same opinion about “lamam”. It goes as follows,

عَنْ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ مَا رَأَيْتُ شَيْئًا أَشْبَهَ بِاللَّمَمِ مِمَّا قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَتَبَ عَلَى ابْنِ آدَمَ حَظَّهُ مِنْ الزِّنَا أَدْرَكَ ذَلِكَ لا مَحَالَةَ فَزِنَا الْعَيْنِ النَّظَرُ وَزِنَا اللِّسَانِ الْمَنْطِقُ وَالنَّفْسُ تَمَنَّى وَتَشْتَهِي وَالْفَرْجُ يُصَدِّقُ ذَلِكَ كُلَّهُ وَيُكَذِّبُهُ.

Said Ibn `Abbas: “I did not hear anything closer to explaining ‘lamam’ than what Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet (who said), ‘Allah has written for the son of Adam his share of fornication that he will earn, without escape. The eye’s fornication is to see, the tongue’s fornication is to talk (about it). The soul desires and hankers after, but the sexual organ either confirms all of it or denies.’” Another opinion coming from the Salaf is that “lamam” is every sin for which neither a capital punishment has been prescribed nor which has received a threat of punishment in the Hereafter. Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and Dahhak were of those who held this opinion. A third opinion is that “lamam” refers to committing a major sin once but then followed by repentance and refraining from any further commitment (Tabari, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

37. That is, Allah knows, you do not (Zamakhshari).

38. It is in keeping with this Qur’anic dictum that the Prophet would rename someone called e.g. “barrah” (meaning “good, pious or virtuous”) suggesting in place another name, such as Zaynab. He would cite this verse, “ascribe not purity to yourselves.” He also disapproved that people be praised without a good cause and without conditional clauses. The following may be quoted from the Sahihayn and other collections:

عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ أَثْنَى رَجُلٌ عَلَى رَجُلٍ عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ وَيْلَكَ قَطَعْتَ عُنُقَ صَاحِبِكَ قَطَعْتَ عُنُقَ صَاحِبِكَ مِرَارًا ثُمَّ قَالَ مَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ مَادِحًا أَخَاهُ لا مَحَالَةَ فَلْيَقُلْ أَحْسِبُ فُلانًا وَاللَّهُ حَسِيبُهُ وَلا أُزَكِّي عَلَى اللَّهِ أَحَدًا أَحْسِبُهُ كَذَا وَكَذَا إِنْ كَانَ يَعْلَمُ ذَلِكَ مِنْهُ

A man praised another in the presence of the Prophet. He said, “Woe unto you. You severed the neck of your companion, you severed the neck of your companion ..” repeating it several times. Then he added, “If one of you has to praise his brother at all, let him say, ‘I reckon he is like this, but Allah is the Reckoner. And I do not vouch for anyone’s purity before Allah. I just assume of him in these terms,’ – if he knows for sure that (quality) is there in him” (Ibn Kathir).

In general terms, the ayah refers to a man boasting, in however small a degree, of his good deeds. Excluding is that situation in which good deeds are mentioned to others by way of thanks and praise to Allah for having guided to them (Zamakhshari).