“But if you slip”: that is, if you go astray; it was also said: if you incline away. One says, “His foot slipped,” when it loses its footing. Ibn Abbas said: this means associationism. Qatadah said: Allah knew that some people would slip, so He gave advance warning of it and threatened punishment for it, so that He might thereby establish the proof against them.
“After the clear proofs have come to you”: that is, the clear evidences. “Then know that Allah is Almighty” in His retribution, “All-Wise” in His command. The Almighty is the Overpowering One from whom nothing escapes, and the All-Wise is He whose judgment in every matter is right.
Regarding His saying, “Are they waiting”: that is, are those who refuse to enter Islam and follow in Satan’s footsteps waiting? The expressions “I waited for him” and “I awaited him” have the same meaning. But when the verb “to look” is joined to the mention of Allah, the Face, or the preposition ilā (“to”), it can only mean seeing.
“Except that Allah should come to them in shades”: ẓulal is the plural of “shade”; “of clouds,” that is, thin white clouds. They are called ghamām because they cover—that is, conceal. Mujahid said: It is other than clouds, and it was granted only to the Children of Israel during their wandering in the wilderness. Muqatil said: It is white, like mist. Al-Hasan said: Behind a covering of clouds, so that the people of the earth do not see Him (1).
“And the angels”: Abu Jafar recited it in the genitive case, as coordinated with “the clouds”; its intended sense is: with the angels. The Arabs say, “The commander approached with the army,” meaning, accompanied by the army. The rest recited it in the nominative case, with the meaning: “Except that Allah and the angels should come to them in shades of clouds.”
The sounder course regarding this verse and others like it is for a person to affirm their apparent meaning, consigning knowledge of their reality to Allah Most High, and to believe that Allah, exalted be His Name, is transcendent above the attributes of created things. This was the way of the leading scholars of the Salaf and the scholars of the Sunnah.
Al-Kalbi said: “This belongs to the concealed matters that are not interpreted.” Makhul, al-Zuhri, al-Awza'i, Malik, Ibn al-Mubarak, Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Layth ibn Sad, Ahmad, and Ishaq would say concerning this and similar verses: “Let them pass as they have come, without asking how.” Sufyan ibn Uyaynah said: “Everything by which Allah describes Himself in His Book—its interpretation is to recite it and remain silent concerning it. No one may interpret it except Allah Most High and His Messenger.” (33/A)
Regarding His saying, “And the matter is decided”: that is, the punishment becomes due and the reckoning is concluded. This is Allah’s (2) just judgment between all creatures on the Day of Resurrection. “And to Allah all matters are returned”: Ibn Amir, Hamzah, al-Kisa’i, and Yaqub recited it with the letter ta bearing a fathah vowel and the letter jim bearing a kasrah vowel; the rest recited it with the ta bearing a dammah vowel and the jim bearing a fathah vowel.