Another group, however, maintained that his companion in this verse is the recording angel. The sinner, they say, will allege that the angel went beyond the mark in what he wrote against him—that he exaggerated, that the man had not in fact committed all those deeds, and that the angel rushed to record them before the man could repent, giving him no respite to turn back. The angel will reply, “I did not add a single word to what he actually did, nor did I deprive him of the chance to repent; rather, he was in far-flung error (27)” [Qaf: 27].

Then the Lord—majestic and exalted—will declare: “Do not dispute in My presence” (28) [Qaf: 28]. Allah, glorified is He, has already told us of the quarrelling of the unbelievers and the devils before Him in the two surahs (1) al-Saffat and al-Aʿraf; of the disputation of mankind before Him in Surah al-Zumar; and of the disputation of the inhabitants of Hell in Surahs al-Shuʿaraʾ and Sad.

Next He states—glorified be He—that no word can be altered in His presence. Some have said that what is meant is His saying, “I will surely fill Hell with jinn and humans all together (119)” [Hud: 119], together with His promise of Paradise for the believers—that none of this shall ever be changed or revoked. Ibn ʿAbbas said: “He intends that there is no failure in My promise, whether to those who obey Me or those who disobey Me.” Mujahid said: “I have decreed what I shall decree.” This is the sounder of the two explanations of the verse (2).

Another view holds that the meaning is: “Words are not tampered with in My presence through lies or trickery as they are before earthly kings and judges.” Thus “the word” refers to what the litigants themselves say. This interpretation was preferred by al-Farraʾ and Ibn Qutayba. Al-Farraʾ (3) commented: “The sense is that no one can lie before Me, for I possess knowledge of the unseen.” Ibn Qutayba (4) said: “Speech is neither distorted nor augmented in My presence …”