Tafsir of Al-Qiyamah 75:31

"So he did not believe and did not pray."

Meaning: He did not affirm what is obligatory to affirm from Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—the Messenger (peace be upon him), and the Quran that was revealed to him.

"And did not pray" what was made obligatory upon him; meaning, he did not believe and he did not pray. The fa (فـ) here is prefixed to the past tense, as in the saying: "If You forgive, O Allah, You forgive a multitude." That is, "And if [it were that] I were a servant to You, not [merely]..."

The pronoun in both verbs refers to the "man" mentioned in the Almighty’s saying: "Does man think..." This sentence is a conjunction to the Almighty’s saying: "He asks," meaning: "He asks about the Day of Resurrection." According to the position held by al-Zamakhshari, the meaning—based on what you have learned, that the questioning was out of mockery and deeming the resurrection far-fetched—is that he deemed the resurrection far-fetched and denied it. Thus, he did not bring the foundation of the religion, which is the affirmation of that which must be affirmed, nor did he bring its most important branch, which is prayer. Then, He emphasized this by mentioning its opposite in the Almighty’s saying:...