Al-An'am: 41 - "Nay, Him alone you call upon."

The fronting [of the object] in His saying, "Nay, Him alone you call upon," is for the purpose of restriction (takhsis). That is, rather, you single Him out—Glorified is He—with supplication, and it is not for the sake of observing rhyme (fawasila). The restriction is understood from what follows, and it is a conjunction to a negated sentence implied by the preceding speech, as if it were said: "You do not call upon other than Allah; nay, Him alone you call upon."

It is stated in al-Kashshaf that it is a conjunction to [the clause], "Do you call upon [anyone] other than Allah?" Al-Zamakhshari raised an objection regarding the dependency of [the clause] "Do you call upon [anyone] other than Allah?" on the interrogation; he argued that His saying, "Then He removes that for which you call upon Him" (meaning: what you call upon Him to remove), along with His saying, "or the Hour comes to you," contradicts this, for the afflictions of the Hour are not removed from the polytheists. He replied that the removal is conditioned by the Will [of Allah] through His saying, "If He wills," and He—Mighty and Majestic is He—does not will to remove those afflictions from them. The objection was restricted to that angle, as per al-Kashshaf, because since the two conditions were tied to His saying, "Is it other than...", and "Nay, Him alone..." was a conjunction serving as an interruption (idrab), and since the conjoined is in the position of the one to which it is conjoined, both must also be tied to [the verb of calling]. Since the removal is a consequence of the supplication and derived from it, they must be tied to it as well—hence the question arose that the afflictions of the Hour are not removed.

As for the other perspective: since "Is it other than..." is an independent statement, the two conditions are not textually tied to it. Rather, it is permissible that they be implied, or—which is the more apparent view if the meaning supports it—that one of them be implied according to the demands of the context. This is because He—Glorified and Exalted is He—confirms their established practice of singling Him out for supplication during times of distress. Do you not see His saying, "Then when distress touches you, to Him you cry out"? Thus, there is no obstacle to mentioning two things and chiding one of them rather than the other, especially when it is exclusive to the chiding.

It is sometimes said that the removal of worldly and otherworldly afflictions by the supplication of the believer or the polytheist—or rather, the acceptance of supplication absolutely—is conditioned by [His] Will. Through this, the verses "Call upon Me, I will respond to you" and "When My servants ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near; I answer the call of the caller when he calls upon Me" are qualified. However, the absence of the Will is realized in some cases, such as His acceptance of the disbelievers' supplication to remove the afflictions of the Hour and the evil recompense they encounter for their disbelief. The removal of some horrors from them, such as the distress of the length of the standing [on the Day of Judgment], when the Prophet (peace be upon him) intercedes and is granted intercession to judge between the creatures on that day, is not a matter of answering their supplication in any way. Moreover, the distress of the length of the standing—from which they depart—is a pleasure relative to what they encounter afterward, even if they did not know it beforehand. The afflictions are surrounding them on that day; they never depart from them, but rather they transition from severe to more severe.

Regarding the saying of some, following al-Zamakhshari: "In my opinion, it is better that the horror of the Resurrection is also removed, such as the distress of the standing place when it is prolonged, as is mentioned in the hadith of the Great Intercession." However, al-Zamakhshari did not mention this because the Mu'tazilah negate intercession. He who followed him in this was negligent of speech that is devoid of verification. The Mu'tazilah, according to Majma' al-Bihar, do not negate intercession regarding the separation of judgment; they only deny intercession for the people of major sins and the disbelievers regarding salvation from the Fire.

There is disagreement among the commentators regarding the answer to the first condition. It is said: it is omitted, its estimate being, "Whom then do you call upon?" It is also said—and Abu al-Baqa' adhered to this—that its estimate is, "You called upon Allah the Almighty." It is also said: it is mentioned, being, "Have you considered?" And it is said—attributed to al-Radi—that it is the sentence containing the interrogation following it, which is like the necessitated [answer] according to some views. Al-Damamini rejected this, stating that such a sentence cannot function as an answer to a condition without the letter fa. Al-Shihab examined this in his marginalia on al-Radi's Sharh al-Kafiyah. Abu Hayyan, followed by more than one, said: "The view I hold is that the answer is omitted due to the indication of 'Have you considered' upon it. Its estimate is: 'If the punishment of Allah comes to you, then inform me: do you call upon other than Allah to remove it?' Just as you say, 'Inform me about Zayd, if he comes to you, what will you do with him?' for the estimate is 'If he comes to you, inform me,' so the answer is omitted due to the indication of 'inform me' upon it. An example of this is, 'You are a wrongdoer if you act [in such a way].'" Understand this and do not be heedless.

His saying, "And you will forget what you associate," is a conjunction to "you call upon." Forgetfulness is a metaphor for abandonment, as narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both); that is, you will abandon what you associate with Him—the idols—a total abandonment. It is also said: it is possible that it is literal, for due to the severity of the horror, they truly forget that and it does not cross their minds. It does not follow from this that they forget Allah, for the custom in times of distress is to be preoccupied with His remembrance and to forget everything else. The removal [of afflictions] was placed first, despite it being delayed after the forgetting—as it is delayed after the calling—to demonstrate the perfection of concern for its affair and to signal that it is a consequence of the supplication specifically.