and what comes after it.

Hushaym narrated to us, from Mughīrah, from Ibrāhīm, who said, “Our companions used to avoid Qurʾānic exegesis and regard it with awe.”
Shuʿbah narrated from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Safr, who said that al-Shaʿbī declared, “By Allah, there is not a single verse whose meaning I have not asked about; yet interpreting it is, in reality, transmitting on behalf of Allah.”
Abū ʿUbayd said: Hushaym narrated to us; ʿUmar ibn Abī Zāʾidah informed us, from al-Shaʿbī, from Masrūq, who said, “Beware of tafsīr (Qurʾānic exegesis), for it is a report attributed to Allah.”

These sound reports—and others like them from the early Imams—should be understood as reflecting their scrupulousness in refraining from tafsīr when they lacked certain knowledge. As for one who speaks on the basis of what he does know, whether from the language or from the Law, there is no blame on him. For that reason statements of tafsīr have indeed been transmitted from these very scholars and from others without contradiction: they spoke about what they knew and kept silent concerning what they did not. This is obligatory upon everyone, for just as silence is required regarding matters one does not know, likewise speaking is required when one is asked about something he does know. Allah, Exalted is He, says, “You must make it clear to the people and not conceal it” ⦗Āl ʿImrān 3:187⦘; and the hadith transmitted through several chains states, “Whoever is asked about knowledge and withholds it will be bridled on the Day of Resurrection with a bridle of fire.”

Ibn Jarīr said: Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us; Muʾammal narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us from Abū al-Zinād, who said that Ibn ʿAbbās said, “Tafsīr is of four kinds: a meaning the Arabs understand from their own speech; a meaning no one is excused for being ignorant of; a meaning known to the scholars; and a meaning known only to Allah. And Allah knows best.”