send you in vain; rather, We sent you with the truth, as He says: “We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them except in truth” (al-Hijr 15:85).
Regarding His words, “a bearer of glad tidings”: that is, bringing glad tidings of a noble reward to My close servants and those who obey Me. “And a warner”: that is, warning and instilling fear in My enemies and those who disobey Me of a painful punishment. Nafi and Yaqub recited, “Do not ask,” as a prohibition. Ata reported from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that this was because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said one day, “Would that I knew what became of my parents.” Then this verse was revealed. (1)
It was also said that it has the sense of the expression, “Do not ask about so-and-so’s evil, for it is beyond what you imagine,” and is not meant as a prohibition. The others recited, “And you are not asked,” in the indicative, as a negation, meaning: you are not accountable for them, (2) as Allah Most High says: “Upon you is only the conveyance of the message, and upon Us is the reckoning” (Al Imran 3:20). “About the inhabitants of Hellfire”: al-Jahim is the main body of the Fire.
(1) Ibn Kathir transmitted it from Abd al-Razzaq, through his chain from Muhammad ibn Kab al-Qurazi, and said: “Ibn Jarir narrated it from Abu Kurayb, from Waki, from Musa ibn Ubaydah, concerning whom scholars have spoken critically.” Ibn Kathir, 1:285 (Dar al-Arqam). Ibn Hajar states in al-Taqrib: “Musa ibn Ubaydah ibn Nashit al-Rabadhi is weak.” Shaykh Ahmad Shakir, commenting on the two reports of al-Tabari, said: “They are two mursal reports, for Muhammad ibn Kab ibn Sulaym al-Qurazi was a Tabi'i, and a mursal report does not constitute proof. Moreover, both chains are weak because of the weakness of their narrator, Musa ibn Ubaydah ibn Nashit al-Rabadhi, who is very weak. A biographical entry on him appears in al-Tahdhib; al-Bukhari's al-Kabir, 4/1:291; al-Saghir, pp. 172-173; and Ibn Abi Hatim, 4/1:151-152. Al-Bukhari said: ‘Munkar al-hadith [his reports are rejected]—this was stated by Ahmad ibn Hanbal.’ Ali ibn al-Madini reported from al-Qattan: ‘In those days, we used to avoid him.’” See al-Tabari's Tafsir, 2:558-559, with Shaykh Shakir's notes. Al-Suyuti also attributed it to Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir, stating: “This is a mursal report with a weak chain.” Al-Durr al-Manthur, 1:271.
(2) This is the view preferred by Imam al-Tabari. He set it forth with precise reasoning and adduced strong evidence; see al-Tafsir, 2:559-561, with Shaykh Shakir's notes. Compare Ibn Kathir's Tafsir, 1:285, Dar al-Arqam edition.