Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (5/383)

Ibn Isḥāq said:

It has reached me that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, began the surah by reciting:
“All praise belongs to Allah, who has sent down the Book to His servant” (Q 18:1).

That is, [Allah is addressing] Muhammad: “You are My Messenger, proving the truth of what they asked about concerning prophethood.”

He continued: “and has allowed therein no deviation—[it is] upright” (Q 18:1), meaning that He revealed it in perfect balance, free of any inconsistency.

Ibn Isḥāq then mentioned the commentary on the surah up to Allah’s words:
“Or do you think that the Companions of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our wondrous signs?” (Q 18:9).

[The meaning is:] they did not appreciate the measure of My power, nor all that I have wrought in creation, nor the proofs I have established against My servants—proofs far greater than that.

Mujāhid said, “The affair of the Companions of the Cave is not the most astonishing of Our signs; there is a sign even more astonishing than it.”

قَالَ ابْنُ إِسْحَاقَ: بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ افْتَتَحَ السُّورَةَ فَقَالَ: {الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ} [الكهف: ١] . يَعْنِي مُحَمَّدًا، إِنَّكَ رَسُولِي فِي تَحْقِيقِ مَا سَأَلُوهُ عَنْهُ مِنْ نُبُوَّتِهِ. {وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجَا قَيِّمًا} [الكهف: ١] . أَيْ أَنْزَلَهُ قَيِّمًا؛ أَيْ مُعْتَدِلًا لَا اخْتِلَافَ فِيهِ، وَذَكَرَ تَفْسِيرَ السُّورَةِ إِلَى قَوْلِهِ: {أَمْ حَسِبْتَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ الْكَهْفِ وَالرَّقِيمِ كَانُوا مِنْ آيَاتِنَا عَجَبًا} [الكهف: ٩] . أَيْ وَمَا قَدَّرُوا مِنْ قَدْرِي، وَفِيمَا صَنَعْتُ مِنْ أَمْرِ الْخَلَائِقِ، وَمَا وَضَعْتُ عَلَى الْعِبَادِ مِنْ حُجَّتِي، مَا هُوَ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ. قَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: " لَيْسَ بِأَعْجَبَ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا مَنْ هُوَ أَعْجَبُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ " .