Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:158

Say, "O mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allah to you all."

When what was in the two Scriptures—regarding the descriptions of the Prophet (may Allah exalt him and grant him peace) and the honor of those who follow him—was narrated, as you have known, he (upon him be peace and prayer) was commanded to proclaim that which contains a silencing of the Jews who were deprived of following him, and an alert to the rest of mankind regarding the fabrication of those among them who claimed that he (may Allah exalt him and grant him peace) was sent specifically to the Arabs.

It is also said: It is a command to him (upon him be peace) to clarify that the happiness of both abodes—alluded to in the preceding verses—is not restricted to those who followed him from among the people of the two Scriptures, but is inclusive of everyone who follows him, whosoever they may be. This is by declaring the universality of his message (may Allah exalt him and grant him peace), for it is general for both mankind and jinn, as the texts have explicitly stated, to the extent that they (the scholars) have declared the one who denies this to be a disbeliever. What is here does not contradict that; the concept (mafhum) implied therein is not taken into account by those who hold it, due to the absence of its condition, which is manifest.

"To whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth"—it is in the position of a genitive (nasb) by the suppression of "I mean" or a similar verb, or in the nominative (raf') by the suppression of "He is." It is permitted that it be in the position of a genitive (jarr) as an adjective or appositive (badal) to the Exalted Name (Allah). Abu al-Baqa' deemed this unlikely because of the separation between them, but it was answered that it is not considered foreign (ajnabi) and is in the ruling of that which has no separation. The first view is preferred for its majesty, for there is a distinct sentence upon it, signaling that what is mentioned is an emblem of that—i.e., "Mention the One whose state is not hidden to the believer or the denier."

It is also said: It is a subject (mubtada'), whose predicate is "There is no god but He." On all views, the first is an explanation (bayan) of what precedes it. Al-Zamakhshari also made it an appositive to the relative pronoun (al-sillah). Sibawayh has confirmed the permissibility of this type, and the eminent scholar mentioned that the flow of the discourse suggests it is an appositive of inclusion (badal ishtimal). The manner of this explanation is that the One who owns the world—its upper and lower realms—is the God; thus, between them is a necessity that justifies making the second an explanation for the first. The intention of the explanation is not to prove it with evidence, for the evidence for His (subhanahu) uniqueness in divinity is His ownership of the entire world, even though it is valid to make it evidence for it as well; so it is said: "The evidence that He (jalla sha'nuhu) is the Owner and Disposer of that is the restriction of divinity to Him, for if there were a god other than Him, he would have possessed that."

Abu Hayyan objected to the position of apposition, saying that substituting sentences for sentences that do not share a governing agent is not recognized. This was countered by the fact that the scholars of rhetoric have mentioned it, and the definition that a follower must match the grammatical case of its predecessor is not absolute.

His saying (subhanahu): "He gives life and causes death" is to further establish His divinity (subhanahu). It is also said: To increase the specificity of this to Him (Ta'ala), which is a sound perspective.

The Fa (the particle of consequence) in His saying (Azza wa Jall): "So believe in Allah and His Messenger" is for the purpose of basing the command upon what has been established of his message (may Allah exalt him and grant him peace). The mention of his own noble self (upon him be peace) by the title of "Messenger" is a way of turning from the second person to the third (iltifat), to exaggerate the necessity of compliance. The Messenger is described with the words: "The unlettered Prophet," to praise him, to further confirm his affair, and to verify that he is the one written about in the two Scriptures.

"Who believes in Allah and His words"—what was revealed to him and to the rest of the Messengers (peace be upon them) of His Books and Revelation. It has been recited as "His Word" (singular), referring to the genus, or the Qur’an, or 'Isa (upon him be peace), as narrated from Mujahid, as a taunt to the Jews and an alert that he who does not believe in him (upon him be peace), his faith is not considered. Bringing this description is to drive the people of the two Scriptures to comply with what they were commanded, and explicitly mentioning faith in Allah (Ta'ala) is to alert them that faith in Him (subhanahu) cannot be separated from faith in His words and is not realized without it. It is not hidden that this verse displays the attribute and avoids personal bias; they considered this the point of the shift (iltifat) and the employment of those attributes.

"And follow him"—that is, in everything he commands and prohibits regarding the affairs of religion.

"That you may be guided"—a justification for the two verbs (believe and follow), or a circumstantial qualifier for their subjects, meaning: in the hope of your being guided to what is sought, or being in a state of hoping for it. In attaching it to both, it is a warning that whoever confirms him but does not follow him by committing to his law is still lost in the wilderness of misguidance.