Tafsir of Al-Ma'aarij 70:36

"So what is the matter with those who disbelieved..." The polytheists used to gather around the Prophet (ﷺ) in separate circles and groups, listening and mocking his words. They would say, "If these people enter Paradise as Muhammad claims, we will surely enter it before them."

Thereupon, {Mahṭi‘īn} was revealed, meaning: hastening toward you, stretching their necks toward you, and fixing their gazes upon you.

{‘Izzīn} means: in separate, scattered groups. It is the plural of ‘izah, the root of which is ‘izwah, as if each group affiliates itself with a different lineage than the other, thus they are divided. Al-Kumayt said: And we, against a rebellious troop, left Your army’s battalions scattered in groups.

It is said that the mockers were five distinct groups.

{Nay!} This is a rebuke to them regarding their greed for entering Paradise. He then explains this by saying: {Indeed, We created them from that which they know} until the end of the Surah. This speech indicates their denial of the Resurrection. It is as if He said: "Nay, they are deniers of the Resurrection and the Recompense; so from where do they hope to enter Paradise?"

If you ask: "In what way does this speech indicate the denial of the Resurrection?" I say: It is an argument against them based on their first creation, just as it is used against them in other places in the Revelation. That is His saying: {We created them from that which they know}, meaning: from semen. It also points to the Power to destroy them and replace them with people better than them, and that He is not preceded by anything in what He intends to bring into existence; nothing incapacitates Him. The purpose is that He who is capable of that is not incapacitated by the Resurrection.

It is also possible that the meaning is: "We created them from that which they know," meaning: from vile semen, which is their origin—a status than which there is no lower. He kept it vague and hidden to signal that it is a status one is ashamed to mention. So, how can they claim nobility and precedence, saying, "We shall enter Paradise before them"?

It is also said: The meaning is that We created them from a drop of semen, just as We created all the children of Adam, and it is Our decree that no one shall enter Paradise except through faith and righteous deeds. Therefore, one who has no faith or deeds should not hope to enter it.

{...by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests...} It is recited as yakhrujūn (they emerge) and yakhrujūn (they are brought forth) from the graves, quickly—with both the explicit and assimilated forms.

{...to an nuṣub (altar/idol)...} An-nuṣub is everything set up and worshipped other than Allah.

{...they hasten} They rush toward the Caller, racing as they used to race toward their idols.

From the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Whoever recites Surah Sa'ala Sa'il (The Ascending Stairways), Allah will grant him the reward of those who are keepers of their trusts and their covenants."