His saying, Exalted is He: “Have they not reflected that there is no madness in their companion?” Qatadah said: We were told that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stood upon al-Safa one night and began calling out to Quraysh, clan by clan: “O sons of so-and-so! O sons of so-and-so!” He warned them of Allah’s might and His punishments. One of them then said, “This companion of yours is surely mad; he has spent the night shouting until morning.” Thereupon Allah, Exalted is He, revealed: “Have they not reflected that there is no madness in their companion”—Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him—“He is only a clear warner.” (1)

He then urged them to reflect in a manner that leads to knowledge, saying:

“Have they not looked into the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that Allah has created, and considered that perhaps their appointed term has drawn near? Then in what statement after this will they believe? (185) Whomever Allah leads astray—none can guide him; and He leaves them wandering blindly in their transgression. (186) They ask you about the Hour: when will it come to pass? Say, ‘Its knowledge is only with my Lord. None will disclose it at its appointed time except Him. It weighs heavily upon the heavens and the earth. It will not come upon you except suddenly.’ They ask you as though you were well informed about it. Say, ‘Its knowledge is only with Allah, but most people do not know.’ (187)”

“Have they not looked into the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that Allah has created”—within them—“of anything?” That is, let them look at everything Allah has created, so that they may infer from it His oneness. “And considered that perhaps their appointed term has drawn near”—that is, perhaps their appointed term has drawn near, so that they may die before believing and thus come to the punishment. “Then in what statement after this will they believe?” That is, after the Quran, in what will they believe? In other words: what book, other than that which Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, brought, will they accept as true? There will be no prophet or book after him.

He then mentioned the reason for their turning away from faith, saying: “Whomever Allah leads astray—none can guide him; and He leaves them.” The reciters of Basra and Asim recited it with the third-person form and with the final letter in the indicative, while Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited it with the third-person form and with the final letter in the jussive, since Allah has already been mentioned before it; the jussive reading is coordinated with “leads astray.” The other reciters read it with the first-person plural form and with the final letter in the indicative, treating it as a new, independent statement. “Wandering blindly in their transgression”: that is, moving about in confusion.

His saying, Exalted is He: “They ask you about the Hour: when will it come to pass?” Qatadah said: Quraysh said to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “There are ties of kinship between us and you, so tell us privately when the Hour will be.” Thereupon Allah, Exalted is He, revealed: “They ask you about the Hour” (2)—meaning, the Day of Resurrection—“when will it come to pass?” Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: its final point. Qatadah said: its occurrence; its root meaning is firmness—that is, when will it be fixed? “Say,” O Muhammad, “Its knowledge is only with my Lord”: He has kept its knowledge exclusively to Himself, and none knows it except Him. “He does not disclose it”