ignorant. This is because whoever worships other than Allah has made himself ignorant, for he has not recognized that Allah created him. It has been related: “Whoever knows himself knows his Lord.” (1) It is also related in reports: “Allah Most High revealed to David, ‘Know yourself, and know Me.’ He said, ‘My Lord, how may I know myself, and how may I know You?’ Allah then revealed to him, ‘Know yourself through weakness, incapacity, and perishing; and know Me through strength, power, and everlastingness.’”

Al-Akhfash said: Its meaning is that he acted foolishly concerning himself. According to this view, “himself” is in the accusative by omission of the preposition. Al-Farra’ said: It is in the accusative as an explanatory specification. The original form was, “His self acted foolishly”; but when the verb was attributed to its possessor, the explanatory word “self” was put in the accusative to make clear the locus of the foolishness. Similarly, one says, “I was constrained by him in capacity,” meaning, “My capacity was constrained by him.”

“We certainly chose him in this world, and in the Hereafter he will surely be among the righteous.” That is, he will be with the prophets in Paradise. Al-Husayn ibn al-Fadl said: There is an inversion in the wording; its intended sense is: “We certainly chose him in this world and the Hereafter, and he is among the righteous.”

“When his Lord said to him, ‘Submit,’” that is, remain steadfast in Islam and hold firmly to it, for he was already a Muslim.

Ibn Abbas said: He said this to him when he emerged from the underground hiding-place. (2) Al-Kalbi said: Make your religion and worship sincerely for Allah alone. Ata’ said: Submit yourself to Allah and entrust your affairs to Him.

“He replied, ‘I have submitted to the Lord of all worlds.’” That is, “I have entrusted my affairs to Him.” Ibn Abbas said: He demonstrated this when he did not seek the assistance of any of the angels when he was cast into the fire.

“And Abraham enjoined this upon his sons, and so did Jacob: ‘My sons, Allah has chosen for you this religion, so do not die except in a state of Islam.’” (132)

“And Abraham enjoined this upon his sons, and so did Jacob.” The scholars of Medina and Syria recited it as wa-awsa, with an alif, and this is likewise how it appears in their codices; the rest recited it as waṣṣā, with a doubled consonant. Both are linguistic variants, like anzala and nazzala. Its meaning is that Abraham enjoined it upon his sons, and Jacob enjoined it upon his sons. Al-Kalbi and Muqatil said: It means the declaration of sincere devotion: “There is no god but Allah.” Abu Ubaydah said: You may refer the pronoun to the religion, since Abraham’s religion had been mentioned; or you may refer it to the injunction itself. Thus, Abraham enjoined it upon his eight sons: Ishmael, whose mother was Hagar the Coptic woman; Isaac, whose mother was Sarah; and six others, whose mother was Qanturah daughter of Yaqtan, a Canaanite woman whom Abraham married after Sarah’s death.

Jacob was so named because he and Esau were twins. Esau preceded him in emerging from his mother’s womb, and Jacob came out after him, holding his heel. This was stated by Ibn Abbas. It is also said that he was named Jacob because of the abundance of his progeny. That is, Jacob likewise enjoined it upon his twelve sons: “My sons”—meaning, that he said, “My sons, Allah has chosen”—that is, selected—“for you the religion,” that is, the religion of—