Al-Baqarah: (111) And they said, "None shall enter Paradise..."

(And they said, "None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian"...) This is linked by conjunction to [the earlier phrase] "He wished..." The intervening verses—"So pardon and overlook"—are either a parenthetical clause marked by the fa or another conjunction to "He wished." Conjoining a performative expression (insha') to declarative ones—where the grammatical position is null—using something other than waw is permissible.

The pronoun refers to the People of the Scripture, not merely a large portion of them, as the conjunction might suggest to the hasty mind. It refers to the Jews and the Christians collectively. It is as if the original expression were: "The Jews said, 'None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew,' and the Christians said, 'None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Christian.'" These two statements were interwoven and presented as a single claim for the sake of conciseness, and because of the confidence that the listener understands that the intent is not that each of the two groups utters this same repeated claim—nor [is it implied] because each knows the other is astray—but rather the intent is to categorize the aforementioned claim with respect to them both. Thus, the word "or" is, like in the meaning provided by the discerning, for detail and categorization, not for alternation; therefore, there is no ambiguity.

Hud is the plural of ha'id, like 'udh is the plural of 'a'id. It is also said to be a verbal noun that applies equally to the singular and others. It is also said that it is a shortened form of Yahud by eliding the ya', though this is weak. According to the view that it is a plural, the subject of kana is singular, referring to man (whoever) in consideration of its grammatical form, while the predicate is plural in consideration of its meaning. This is frequent in speech, contrary to those who forbid it, and among such instances is His saying: "And awaken those of you who were sleepers." Ubayy read it as Yahudiyyan aw Nasraniyan, thereby making both the subject and the predicate conform to the grammatical form.

(Those are their wishes.) Al-amani (wishes) is the plural of umniyyah, which is that which one desires, like udhuha (something to laugh at) and u'juba (something to wonder at). The sentence is parenthetical between their statement and the demand for evidence of the truth of their claim. "Those" refers to "None shall enter Paradise," and so on. The predicate is made plural—even though what is being referred to is a single wish—to indicate the oscillation of the wish within their souls and its repetition. It is also said that it is to intimate that it has reached the utmost degree, for the plural signifies an increase in the units, so it is used for absolute increase. This is among the subtle metaphors and treasures of rhetoric.

Others say there is no need for all of this; rather, it is plural because "those" contains two wishes: that none shall enter Paradise except the Jews, and that none shall enter Paradise except the Christians, while depriving the Muslims of it. Furthermore, the utterers are many; thus, it is a wish with respect to each speaker, and many wishes with respect to all of them collectively. Some have made it a reference to [what was mentioned earlier]: that no good should be sent down upon the believers from their Lord, that they turn them back into disbelievers, and that none shall enter Paradise but them. In this case, "their wishes" is a generalization, for the first two are of the category of things genuinely wished for, while the third is a false claim.

It is also permitted that it refers to what is in the verse with the omission of the genitive modifier—that is, "their wishes are like such a wish." If amani is taken to mean "lies," then applying the term "wish" to their claim is literal. If it is taken to mean "things desired," then it is metaphorical, comparing it to what is wished for in terms of its impossibility. The remoteness of both views is not hidden, especially the former, because every sentence in which "wishing" for a thing was mentioned has already ended, been completed, and was independent in its revelation; thus, it is very remote to refer back to it.

(Say, "Produce your proof.") That is, for what you have claimed regarding your exclusivity in entering Paradise. It is connected in meaning to His saying, "They said, 'None shall enter Paradise'..." as a rebuttal to it, and nothing else. Hatu (Produce) means "bring." The ha' is radical, not a substitute for the hamza in atu (give), nor is it for alerting. It is an imperative verb, contrary to those who claim it is a verbal noun or an interjection like ha. There is disagreement regarding the arrival of the past, present, and verbal noun from this root. Abu Hayyan established hata, yuhati, mahatan.

Al-burhan (the proof) is the evidence for the validity of a claim. It is said to be derived from al-barh, which is cutting; thus the nun is an augment. Others say it is from al-barhana, which is clarification; thus the nun is radical, due to the absence of the pattern fa'lan and the existence of fa'lal. Based on this derivation, the disagreement is built regarding burhan—if it were used as a name, would it be diptote or not?

(If you are truthful.) The response to the conditional is omitted, indicated by what precedes it. The object of truthfulness is their aforementioned claim, not faith or the wishes, as some have said. The suspension [of the response] implies that a proof is indispensable for the truthful one to establish his claim. It is reasoned that every statement without evidence is invalid in the eyes of the opponent and is therefore not to be counted. Thus, it is said: "Whoever claims something without a witness, his claim must be invalidated." There is no evidence in the verse for the prohibition of taqlid (blind imitation), for the evidence of the imitator is the evidence of his master, as is not hidden. Interpreting "truthful" here as meaning "righteous" is something that only a corrupted mind would invite.