Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:160

(160) Except for the chosen servants of Allah.

This is an interrupted exception (istithna' munqati') from the [phrase] "the brought forth" (al-muhdarin), with the intervening text being a parenthetical clause. That is to say: "But the chosen ones are saved."

It has been deemed permissible that it is a connected exception (istithna' muttasil) from the pronoun in [the previous verse] "that they..." (annahum), interpreting the pronoun to encompass [the previous mentioned group], though this is contrary to the apparent meaning.

It has also been deemed permissible that it is an interrupted exception from the pronoun in [the verse] "they describe" (yasifun), or a connected exception from it, both of which are also contrary to the apparent meaning.

It has also been deemed permissible that it is an exception from the pronoun in [the verse] "they made" (ja'alu), based on it being interrupted and nothing else, with the intervening text being a parenthetical clause. Al-Wahidi chose the first interpretation. Al-Tayyibi said: "It is excellent—indeed, entirely excellent—if one interprets 'the jinn' as the devils, and the pronoun in 'that they' as the disbelievers, so that its meaning reverts to the words of the Almighty, relating the story of the Accursed [Satan]: 'I will surely mislead them all, except Your chosen servants among them'—meaning: They [the disbelievers] are brought forth into the Fire and are tormented, for they obeyed us in our misleading of them. However, those who purified their obedience to Allah the Almighty and cleansed their hearts from the filth of polytheism, the impurities of disbelief, and moral vices—our plot had no effect on them, so they are not brought forth. This serves as praise for the chosen ones, an allusion against the polytheists, a humiliation to their pride, and an increase in their rage; meaning that they are the opposite of what [the polytheists] are in terms of feeble judgment, ignorant souls, and weak-mindedness."

There is a degree of deficiency in the explanation of this meaning. And [concerning] His saying, the Almighty...