45: And remember Our servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The three names are an explanatory apposition (‘atf bayan) for "Our servants," or a substitute (badal) for it. It is also said that they are in the accusative case due to an implied verb meaning "I mean" (a‘ni). Ibn Abbas, Ibn Kathir, and the people of Mecca read it as "Our servant" (‘abdana) in the singular; thus, Abraham alone is the substitute or explanatory apposition, or the object of "I mean." He was singled out with the title of servitude for his exceeding nobility, and those mentioned after him are joined to "Our servant." It is also permitted that "Our servant" refers to "Our servants," as the singular is placed in the position of the plural to denote the category, whereby the two readings become unified.

Meaning, possessors of power in obedience and insight in religion, based on the understanding that "hands" (al-aydi) is a synecdoche (majaz mursal) for power, and "sights" (al-ibsar) is the plural of "sight" (basar) in the sense of "insight" (basirah), which is also a metaphorical usage, though it is well-known in this context. Alternatively, it means possessors of grand deeds and noble sciences, based on the understanding that mentioning "hands" is a mention of the cause while intending the effect, and "sights" in the sense of insights is a metaphor for the sciences that branch out from them, just like the former. In both interpretations, there is an allusion to the ignorant idlers that they are like those lacking hands and sight, and a rebuke for their abandonment of struggle and contemplation despite their capacity for both.

It is also said that "hands" means favors, that is, possessors of those which God Almighty bestowed upon them, such as prophethood and status, or possessors of favors and benevolence toward people by guiding and teaching them; there is room for objection regarding this. It was also read as "the hands" (al-ayadi) as a plural of the plural, like awtaf and awatif.

Abdullah, al-Hasan, Isa, and al-A‘mash read it as "the strength" (al-ayd) without the ya. It is said that "the hands" with the ya is intended, but it was dropped, with the kasra serving as a sufficient indicator. Since the definite article al- alternates with the tanween, the ya was dropped with it just as it was dropped with the tanween, as reported by Abu Hayyan. He then stated: This is a derivation that is not permissible, because the dropping of this ya while al- is present was mentioned by Sibawayh only regarding pronouns. It is also said that "the hand" means power in the obedience of God Almighty, similar to what was mentioned before.

Al-Zamakhshari said, after explaining the dropping of the ya as being due to the sufficiency of the kasra, that interpreting it as "strength" (al-ayd)—despite the support for it—is unstable and not well-founded. He explained that it results in the loss of correspondence and the loss of the rhetorical point, so do not be heedless of this.