humility and submission. This man, his people, and his council could never stand against these wardens. Hence He says:
﴿We shall summon the wardens.﴾
If someone asks, “Where is the wāw in the word sanad'u (‘We shall summon’)?” we reply: It has been elided because two vowelless letters meet. The wāw is vowelless, and the hamzah is a vowelless hamzat al-wasl (connecting hamzah). When two vowelless letters meet, a sound letter takes a kasra, whereas a weak letter is elided. Ibn Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his Alfiyyah:
When two vowelless letters meet, give the preceding one a kasra;
But if it is a weak letter, it deserves to be elided.
That is, when two vowelless letters meet, if the first is a sound letter—not one of the weak letters—it takes a kasra. An example is the saying of Allah Most High:
﴿Lam yakuni lladhīna kafarū—“Those who disbelieved were not…”﴾
Its underlying form is lam yakun (“it was not”), because when the particle lam enters upon a verb, it makes it jussive, as in the saying of Allah Most High:
﴿Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan ahad—“And there is none comparable to Him.”﴾
Here, however, two vowelless letters meet, and since the first is a sound letter, it takes a kasra. If the first is a weak letter—meaning one of the weak letters—it is elided, as in this verse:
﴿We shall summon the wardens.﴾
﴿No! Do not obey him; prostrate and draw near.﴾ The same explanation of ﴿No!﴾ applies as was given for its previous occurrence. The address in His words, ﴿Do not obey him,﴾ means: Do not obey the one who forbids you from praying. Rather, prostrate and pay no heed to him. Since Allah forbade His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from obeying this man, this means that He, Glorious and Exalted, would defend him. In other words: Do what you are commanded, and do not concern yourself with this man. Prostrate to Allah, Glorious and Exalted.
What is meant by prostration here is prayer. Prayer is expressed by reference to prostration because prostration is one of its pillars, without which it is invalid. Hence prayer is expressed by reference to it. His words, ﴿and draw near,﴾ mean: draw near to Allah, Glorious and Exalted, for one is closest to his Lord while prostrating, as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace, said: “The closest that