(And leave those who have taken their religion) which was enjoined upon them, and for which they were tasked and commanded to establish its obligations, which is Islam, (as play and amusement) in that they mocked it and ridiculed it. It is also permissible that the meaning is: they took the obligatory religion as something of the category of play and amusement, such as the worship of idols, the prohibition of al-bahira and as-sa’ib (specific types of livestock dedicated to idols), and the like; or that they took what they hold as a religion and profess as a faith—like the followers of other religions—as something of play and amusement. The result is that they took play and amusement as their religion.
It is said: the meaning of "religion" (din) here is the festival (‘id) to which one returns at every known interval in the manner legislated by Allah (Exalted be He), such as the festival of the Muslims; or in the manner not legislated, consisting of play and amusement, like the festivals of the disbelievers. This is because the original meaning of "religion" is custom, and a festival is a custom of every year. This is attributed to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them). The meaning in all these interpretations is: do not concern yourself with them, and proceed with what you have been commanded.
Ibn Jarir and others reported that the meaning is one of threat, similar to the saying of the Exalted: "Leave Me and him whom I created alone," and "Leave them to eat and enjoy themselves." It is also said that the meaning is a command to desist from them and to stop dealing with them; according to this, the verse is abrogated by the Verse of the Sword. This is reported from Qatada.
Laban (play) is in the accusative case as a second object of "took" (ittakhadhu), which is the choice of al-Safaqsi. From the apparent wording of some, it is understood to be the first object, and dinahum (their religion) the second, which would involve predicating a definite noun with an indefinite one. From the words of the Imam, it is understood to be a maf’ul li-ajlihi (an object denoting cause), and "took" as a verb requiring only one object. He said, after listing the interpretations of the verse: "The fifth, and the closest, is that the one who is truthful in religion is he who champions religion because evidence has been established that it is truth, reality, and correctness. As for those who champion it to use it as a means to obtain positions, leadership, victory over an opponent, or the accumulation of wealth, they have championed religion for the sake of the world, and Allah (Exalted be He) has judged it in all the verses as being play and amusement. Thus, the meaning of His saying (Exalted be He): 'And leave those who have taken...' is an allusion to those who use their religion as a means to their worldly ends. If you contemplate the state of most creatures, you will find them described by this quality and included under this verse."
It is hidden that this is further away than the star al-’Ayuq (Capella), so do not be deceived by it, even if its speaker is great.
(And worldly life has deceived them), meaning it has deluded them and tempted them with falsehood until they denied the Resurrection and claimed there is no life after it, and mocked the signs of Allah (Exalted be He). Some have derived gharrat (deceived) from gharr, which means a mouthful, meaning its pleasures have filled them until they forgot the Hereafter. According to this is the saying: "And when we met in the evening, he deceived me with his kindness until I went out panting."
(And remind with it), that is, with the Quran, as it has come explicitly in His saying (Exalted be He): "Therefore, remind with the Quran whoever fears My threat." The Quran interprets itself. It is said: the pronoun refers to their "account." It is also said: it is a pronoun interpreted by His saying (Exalted be He): (Lest a soul be held in pledge for what it has earned), so it acts as a substitute for it; Abu Hayyan chose this. According to the other views, it is a maf’ul li-ajlihi (an object denoting cause), meaning "lest it be held in pledge," or "for fear of," or "disliking that it be held in pledge." Some made it the object of "remind."
The meaning of tubsal is to be held in pledge/imprisoned, as reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them), and he cited the verse of Zuhair: "And I parted from you with a pledge that has no release, on the day of farewell, while my heart is held in pledge (mubsal) for something cherished." In a narration of Ibn Abi Hatim from him: "surrendered." This is also reported from al-Hasan, Mujahid, and al-Suddi, and it was chosen by al-Jubba’i and al-Farra’. In a narration of Ibn Jarir and others: "disgraced." Al-Raghib said: tubsal here means the ibsal and basl in the original sense is prohibition. From this comes "a fierce (basil) lion," because its prey cannot escape it, or because it is unyielding. Al-basil means the brave, because of his refusal to yield to his opponent. Al-basl also comes in the meaning of "forbidden." Al-Raghib distinguished between them by saying that haram (forbidden) is general for whatever is forbidden by judgment or force, while basl is that which is forbidden by force. Basl can also mean "yes" or "indeed," or act as a noun representing a verb meaning "cease."
The indefiniteness of nafs (soul) is for generalization, similar to His saying (Exalted be He): "A soul will know what it has brought," meaning: lest every soul be held in pledge or imprisoned in destruction or in the Fire, or surrendered to that, or disgraced, or deprived of reward on account of its evil deeds. Or "remind with it" so that every soul is restrained or imprisoned by that. The classification of an indefinite noun as generalization—even though it occurs in an affirmative context—is due to the requirements of the context. It is said: it is negative here in meaning. In what Abu Hayyan chose regarding the magnification and the increase in emphasis, there is that which is not hidden.
His saying (Exalted be He): (It has, other than Allah, no protector and no intercessor) is either a resumption to report this, or in the place of an nominative as an adjective for nafs, or in the place of an accusative as a state from the pronoun in "earned," or from nafs, for it is in the force of "a disbelieving soul" or "many souls." Some have deemed it to be a state. "Other than Allah" relates to a hidden predicate that acts as a state from "protector." It is said: it is the predicate of laysa (is not), and "for it" (laha) is then related to a hidden element for explanation. Whoever considers it (the ba in bi-nusr) as redundant does not relate it to anything. The meaning is that no protector or intercessor shall stand between it and Allah (Exalted be He) to ward off His punishment.
(And if it offers), that is, if that soul offers, (every ransom), that is, every compensation. ’Adl is in the accusative as a source (masdar) because it is according to what it is added to, not as a direct object. It is said: it is an adjective for a hidden noun, meaning "the complete," as when you say: "He is a man of every man," meaning "perfect in manliness." The estimation is ‘adlan kulla ‘udul (a ransom of all ransom). This was rejected, as kull in this meaning necessitates dependency and addition to something like the modified element as an epithet, not as an intensifier, as in al-Tashil, and its modified noun cannot be omitted.
His saying (Exalted be He): (None shall be taken from it) is the response to the condition, and the verb is attributed to the prepositional phrase, as in "traveling from the country," not to the pronoun of "ransom." This is because "ransom," as you have known, is a source and is not "taken," unlike it in His saying (Exalted be He): "No ransom shall be taken from it," for it is in the sense of "that which is ransomed." It is permitted that the attribution is to its pronoun intended as the ransom, but there is no need for this when the attribution to the prepositional phrase is sound. By this, one also dispenses with the claim that it refers to the one being ransomed, derived from the context. It is said: the meaning of the verse is that if that soul offers every offering on that day, it will not be accepted from it, for repentance there is not accepted; it is only accepted in this world.
(Those), meaning those who took their religion as play and amusement, those deceived by worldly life, (are the ones who are held in pledge), meaning deprived of reward and surrendered to punishment, or by one of the remaining meanings of ibsal, (for what they have earned), that is, because of their ugly deeds and deviant beliefs. The demonstrative pronoun is the subject, and the sense of distance it contains is to signal the depth of the lowly state of those referred to. Its predicate is the relative pronoun that follows it, and the sentence is a resumption introduced after warning those people of the aforementioned "pledging," to clarify that they are the ones afflicted by that.
His saying (Exalted be He): (For them is a drink of scalding water) is another resumption clarifying the nature of the aforementioned "pledging," based on a question arising from the speech, as if it were said: "What will they have when they are held in pledge?" It was said: "For them is a drink of scalding water," that is, hot water that trickles and moves in their bellies, and by which their intestines are cut. (And a painful punishment) with Fire that burns their bodies, as is the obvious implication of "punishment," (because they used to disbelieve), meaning because of their disbelief that was continuous in the world. Hamim is also used for cold water, so it is an opposite, as in al-Qamus. Abu al-Baqa’ permitted that the sentence "For them is a drink" be a state from the pronoun in "are held in pledge," and that it be a predicate for the demonstrative pronoun, with "those" being an adjective for it or a substitute, or that it be a second predicate. He chose—as his speech indicates—that the reference be to the "souls" indicated by "a soul" (nafs), and that the sentence was made to explain the consequence of the "pledging." Many researchers have chosen what we have pointed out.
The arrangement of the mentioned two punishments for their disbelief—even though they are also punished for the rest of their sins—is as His saying (Exalted be He) "for what they have earned" declares, because it is the foundation in the causes of punishment and the most important in the chapter of warning. Or it is intended, as was said, that "their disbelief" is more general than it and its consequences of sins.
