Al-Mulk: (29) Say, "He is the Most Gracious..."

Say: Meaning: Say to them, as a response to their wishing for that which will not avail them but rather ruin them, while alluding to the evil state they are in.

He is the Most Gracious: Meaning: He is Allah, the Most Gracious.

We have believed in Him: Meaning: So He will protect us by His mercy, the Mighty and Majestic, from the punishment of the Hereafter, and we have not disbelieved like you, so that we may not be protected at all. Since disbelief was made the cause of ruin in the first verse, belief was made the cause of protection in this one, so that the correspondence may be completed and the allusion may fall into its proper place. The object of "we have believed" was not brought forward; for if it were said, "In Him we have believed," it would have been a departure toward alluding to their belief in idols, and it would have been an exit from the context for which the speech was intended.

The advancement [of the object] in His saying, "And upon Him we have relied," is appropriate because the allusion to them regarding the matter of reliance necessitates it; meaning: And upon Him we have relied—the best Trustee—so He has granted us victory, not through numbers and equipment as you are upon. The summary is that since destruction and mercy were mentioned previously—and interpreted as the mercy of this world and the Hereafter—He confirms here that they possess it in both realms due to their belief and their reliance upon Him, the Exalted, exclusively. In that is the realization that it is not attained by the disbelievers due to the absence of the two causes [belief and reliance]. Furthermore, the verse acts as a conclusion following the pattern of the previous one, clarifying that the best of deeds is belief and reliance upon Allah, the Exalted, alone, which is the reality of piety.

"And you will come to know who it is that is in clear error": Meaning: in both realms. It is a threat following the summary of the cause, yet it is expressed in the manner of equitable speech, meaning: who it is—between us and you—that is in [clear error], etc. Al-Kisa'i recited it as sa-ya‘lamun (they will come to know) using the third-person prefix, in consideration of His saying, "Then who can protect the disbelievers?"