Tafsir of Ghafir 40:60

"And your Lord says, 'Call upon Me; I will answer you.'"

Meaning: Worship Me, and I will reward you. This is according to what has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, ad-Dahhak, Mujahid, and a group [of scholars]. It is related that when Sufyan [al-Thawri] was told to call upon Allah Almighty, he replied, "Abstaining from sins is the invocation." He meant that verbal invocation is merely a translation of the inner request, and that it is only valid when the orientation is sincere and prohibitions are abandoned. Whoever abandons sins has requested the Truth (Allah) through the tongue of preparedness, which is the invocation that necessitates an answer; whereas one who does not abandon them is not a true supplicant, even if he calls upon Him, glory be to Him, a thousand times.

What has been mentioned serves to support the interpretation of 'supplication' as 'worship' and verifies it, for abstaining from sins is among the greatest of acts of worship. This fits perfectly with His saying, Exalted is He: "Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible" (i.e., humbled and disgraced).

It is also permitted that the meaning is: "Ask Me, and I will give to you." This is what has been narrated from as-Suddi. In this case, the meaning of His saying, "disdain My worship," is: "they disdain calling upon Me," because supplication is a form of worship, and indeed, one of the most excellent types of it. In fact, Ibn al-Mundhir and al-Hakim—who authenticated it—narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: "The best worship is supplication," and then he recited the verse. The threat against those who disdain it is because that is the habit of the extravagant and the wasteful, whereas the believer humbles himself before Allah Almighty in all his fluctuations.

The placing of "worship" in connection with "disdain" indicates that supplication is a gateway to submission, for worship is submission, and [it indicates] that the intended meaning of "worship" is "supplication." For disdain only occurs regarding a thing that, if one performed it, he would cease to be disdainful.

He [the author of al-Kashf] said: "This view is more apparent according to the literal wording and more appropriate to the context; for when He made arguing about the verses of Allah a form of arrogance, He made supplication and submission to His verses a form of submission." Because the one who calls upon Him, the Almighty and Majestic, and takes refuge in Him, does not argue about His verses without authority from Him at all.

The conjunction in His saying, "And says," is a conjunction of one complete story to another, as they are equal in purpose. This is why, when He completed this narrative—meaning His saying, "And your Lord says," up to His saying, "He says to it, 'Be,' and it is"—He made the purpose explicit in His saying, "Do you not see those who argue about the verses of Allah?" just as He built the story upon that initially in His saying, "Indeed, those who argue about the verses of Allah without any authority."

If one were to contemplate this noble Surah with true contemplation, he would find that most of it is built upon the refutation of those who argue about the verses of Allah—which encompass [the proofs of] Monotheism and Resurrection—and the clarification of the manner of that refutation in various ways. Then, look at how the conclusion of the Surah corresponds to how it began with His saying, Exalted is He: "So do not be deceived by their movement," and how He made explicit at the end what He had alluded to at the beginning, so that you may marvel at it. This is the reasoning for the conjunction.

What he mentioned regarding this interpretation being more apparent according to the literal wording is very evident. In the first view, one must commit to that which contradicts the apparent meaning—before any necessity—in two places: regarding 'supplication,' where it is used metaphorically for 'worship' because it contains it, or because it is a specific worship intended to represent the general; and regarding 'the answer,' where it is made to signify 'reward' for worship, for the sake of following through on it metaphorically or for the sake of stylistic parallelism (mushakala).

In contrast to the second view, it only requires committing to one contradiction of the apparent meaning, which is the metaphorical usage in one place: "My worship." Furthermore, this is done after the necessity has arisen. Thus, it is not like "removing one's boots before reaching the water." Indeed, it has even been said: There is no need for metaphorical usage at all, because the attribution (idafa) here is intended to be for the familiar/covenant, thus providing what preceded it. However, that it is more appropriate to the context is something that does not hold in my view.

Regardless, "I will answer you" is in the jussive mood as a response to the command; meaning, "If you call upon Me, I will answer you." The answer, according to both views, is conditional upon the Will [of Allah], as our principles necessitate. This has been made explicit regarding the answering of supplication, as He said, Exalted is He: "And He removes that for which you supplicated Him, if He wills." Disdaining the worship of Allah Almighty—whether it be supplication or otherwise—is disbelief, upon which follows what has been mentioned in the noble verse.

As for abandoning that [supplication] without arrogance, the detailed discussion regarding it is well-known. The states regarding the abandonment of supplication are said to vary: sometimes it is not good, as indicated by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever does not call upon Allah Almighty, He becomes angry with him" (narrated by Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shaybah, and al-Hakim from Abu Hurayrah as a marfu' report). Sometimes it is good, as indicated by what is narrated regarding the Friend of Allah (Abraham, peace be upon him) abandoning supplication on the day he was cast into the fire, and his saying: "His knowledge of my state suffices for my asking." It is sometimes said: Abandoning supplication is an act of sufficiency in the knowledge of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Ibn Kathir, Abu Bakr, Zayd ibn Ali, and Abu Ja'far read "will enter" (sayadkhuluna) in the passive voice, from al-idkhal (to be made to enter). The reports from Asim and Abu 'Amr differ.