They have no knowledge of this, nor did their forefathers. How terrible is the claim that comes out of their mouths! They utter nothing but a lie. (5) Perhaps you would destroy yourself with grief over them if they should not believe in this message. (6) Indeed, We have made all that is on the earth an adornment for it, so that We may test which of them is best in deeds. (7) And surely We shall reduce all that is upon it to barren, level ground. (8) Or did you think that the People of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our most wondrous signs? (9)
“Remaining therein forever”: that is, dwelling therein. “And to warn those who say, ‘Allah has taken a son.’” “They have no knowledge of this, nor did their forefathers”: that is, they said it out of ignorance, not knowledge. “How terrible”: that is, how grave. “The claim” is in the accusative as a specification. It is said that its implied construction is, “The claim has become grave indeed.” It is also said that the construction is, “because of a claim”; the preposition “because of” is omitted, and so it occurs in the accusative. “That comes out of their mouths”: that is, appears from their mouths. “They utter”: that is, they say. “Nothing but a lie.”
“Perhaps you would destroy yourself with grief over them”: that is, after they have turned away. “If they should not believe in this message”: that is, the Quran. “With grief”: that is, sorrow; and it is also said to mean anger.
“Indeed, We have made all that is on the earth an adornment for it.” If it is asked, “What adornment is there in snakes, scorpions, and devils?” the answer is: they are an adornment in the sense that they point to the oneness of Allah Most High.
Mujahid said: He meant men alone, and they are the adornment of the earth. It is also said that He meant the scholars and the righteous. Another view is that the adornment consists of vegetation, trees, and rivers, as He says: “until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and has become beautified” (Yunus-24).
“So that We may test them”: that is, so that We may examine them. “Which of them is best in deeds”: that is, most righteous in deed. It is also said: which of them is most abstinent from worldly life. “And surely We shall reduce all that is upon it to barren, level ground”: the level ground is the surface of the earth. It is also said to mean dust—barren, dry, and smooth, producing nothing. It is said that land becomes barren when its vegetation has been consumed.
His saying, Most High, “Or did you think that the People of the Cave and the Inscription were among Our most wondrous signs?” means: Did you suppose, O Muhammad, that the People of the Cave and the Inscription were a wonder among Our signs? It is also said that its meaning is that they are not more wondrous than Our other signs, for what I have created of the heavens and the earth, and the wonders within them, is more wondrous than they are.