in the active voice. “Founded upon piety from Allah and His good pleasure” is better; that is, founded in pursuit of piety and Allah’s good pleasure. “Or one who has founded his building upon the brink”—that is, upon the edge—“of a crumbling precipice.” Abu Amr, Hamzah, and Abu Bakr read the word for “precipice” with a silent r, while the rest read it with the r vowelled with u; both are recognized forms. It refers to a well that has not been lined with masonry.

Abu Ubaydah said: It is a pit, or that which floodwaters scour away from the valleys and carry off with the water, leaving it fragile. “Crumbling” means collapsing: that is, falling. One says of it, “It collapses,” meaning that it falls; the shortened form is used in the verse. It has also been said that it derives from a verb meaning “to be demolished.” Its meaning, then, is that which falls apart, with one part collapsing after another, just as sand and other loose material cave in.

“So it collapsed with him into the Fire of Hell”: that is, it fell with its builder. He means that the construction of this mosque of harm is like building upon the edge of Hell, which then caves in with its people into it. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “That is, hypocrisy caused them to enter the Fire.”

“And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” Qatadah said: “By Allah, it did not stop short of falling into the Fire. We have been told that a spot was excavated there, and smoke was seen rising from it.” Jabir ibn Abdullah said: “I saw smoke rising from the mosque of harm.” (1)

“The building which they built will continue to be a source of doubt in their hearts, unless their hearts are torn to pieces. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth in exchange for Paradise. They fight in the way of Allah, killing and being killed. This is a true promise binding upon Him in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. And who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him. That is the supreme triumph.” (110–111)

“The building which they built will continue to be a source of doubt”—that is, doubt and hypocrisy—“in their hearts”: they think that they did well in building it, just as the calf was made beloved to the people of Moses. This was stated by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him. Al-Kalbi said: It means grief and remorse, because they regretted having built it. Al-Suddi said: The demolition of their building will continue to be a source of doubt, bitterness, and rage in their hearts.

“Unless their hearts are torn to pieces”: that is, unless their hearts break apart and they die. Ibn Amir, Abu Jafar, Hamzah, and Hafs read it with the initial t vowelled with a, meaning, “their hearts will be torn apart.” The others read it with the initial t vowelled with u. Yaqub alone read, “until,” indicating the endpoint, and read “are cut apart” in the passive voice, from cutting apart. This is supported by the explanation of al-Dahhak and Qatadah: “They will continue to be in doubt about it until”