Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:70

They said, responding to those great exhortations that contained warnings, as indicated: "Have you come to us that we may worship Allah alone"—meaning, that we may isolate Him with worship—"and leave"—that is, abandon—"what our fathers used to worship"—namely, the idols. This is a denial and an expression of disbelief regarding his coming—peace be upon him—with such a message. Its origin lies in their deep-seated imitation and their love for what they had become accustomed to, and what their ancestors had been accustomed to.

The meaning of "coming" is either his arrival from a place where he was engaged in devotion, just as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to do in Hira before his mission, or it signifies, "Have you come down to us from the sky?" Their intent here is mockery and derision, stemming from their belief that a messenger from Allah Almighty cannot be a human; or it is a metaphor for intending a thing and embarking upon it. For the Arabs use "to come," "to stand," "to sit," and "to go" in this manner to depict a state of affairs, saying: "He sat doing such and such," "He stood abusing me," "He sat reading," and "He went insulting me."

The word "alone" (wahdahu) is in the accusative case as a state (hal). According to the majority of grammarians—including al-Khalil and Sibawayh—it is a noun placed in the position of a verbal noun (masdar)—meaning tawhidan (unifying)—placed in the position of the state, meaning muwahhidan (unifying Him). They disagreed regarding instances like "I saw Zayd alone (wahdahu)." Most consider it a state of the agent (the subject), implying, "I saw him while I was alone in my seeing." Al-Mubarrad considers it a state of the object, implying, "I saw him while he was in a state of being solitary in that seeing." Abu Bakr ibn Talha forbade considering it a state of the subject and insisted it must be a state of the object, because when they intend the state of the subject, they say, "I saw him alone (wahdi)" and "I passed by him alone (wahdi)," as the poet said: "The wolf I fear, if I pass by it alone, / And I fear the winds and the rain."

What he said regarding the verse is correct; however, it does not prevent the two aforementioned possibilities from applying to "I saw Zayd alone" (wahdahu), as the meaning is valid in both. Some say it is a verbal noun placed in the position of a state, and for some, no verb has been posited for it. Al-Asma‘i reported the form wahdi-had. Yunus and Hisham, in one of their opinions, maintained that it is in the accusative as an adverbial construct (zaraf). Thus, "Zayd came alone" is interpreted as "Zayd came upon his solitude (‘ala wahdatihi)," then the preposition was omitted and it became accusative as an adverb. The preposition ‘ala is explicitly mentioned in the speech of some Arabs. If one says "Zayd alone," the interpretation is "Zayd is in the position of solitude." Perhaps the proponent of this view says: it is a verbal noun placed in the position of an adverb. Others say it is governed by a hidden verb, just as one says, "Zayd, advancing and retreating."

This is the summary of their discourse on this subject. Once you have grasped this information, know that "that we may worship Allah alone" is, according to Sibawayh, interpreted as muwahhidina (unifying Him)—a state of the agent (the subject), with the ha of muwahhidina being kasrah. According to Ibn Talha’s opinion, it is muwahhidan (unifying Him), with the ha being fathah, derived from the quadrilateral awhada. According to Hisham’s opinion, the interpretation is "we worship Allah Almighty in a state of isolation," derived from the triliteral wahada. The meaning in these three interpretations does not differ except slightly. The statement it is contained within includes both affirmation and negation, and possesses several probabilities, both negative and positive. The details of this are in the treatise of our master Taqi al-Din al-Subki, titled al-Rafda fi Ma‘na Wahdahu, in which al-Safadi says: "Leave your slumber and heed al-Rafda, you shall gain from it knowledge that surpasses the taste of honey."

He meant by his saying in the Almighty’s speech: "Then bring us what you promise us"—the punishment indicated by His saying: "Will you not then fear?"—"if you are of the truthful"—by informing us of its descent, or, as some say, by informing us that you are the Messenger of Allah Almighty to us. The answer to the conditional "if" is omitted because the aforementioned content indicates it, meaning: "Then bring it."