“Say, ‘He is Allah, the One.’” That is, One. There is no difference between the term al-Wahid (“the One”) and al-Ahad (“the One”), as is indicated by Ibn Mas‘ud’s recitation: “Say, ‘He is Allah, the One.’” (1)

“Allah, the Eternal Refuge.” Ibn ‘Abbas, Mujahid, al-Hasan, and Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: “Al-Samad is He who has no interior cavity.”

Al-Sha‘bi said: “He who neither eats nor drinks.”

It was also said that its explanation is what follows it. Abu al-‘Aliyah narrated from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b that he said: “Al-Samad is He who neither begets nor is born; for whoever is born will die, and whoever inherits will himself be inherited from.” (2)

Abu Wa’il Shaqiq ibn Salamah said: “He is the master whose mastery has reached its utmost limit.” This is also the narration of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talhah from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: “He is the master who is complete in every aspect of mastery.” (3) Sa‘id ibn Jubayr also said: “He is perfect in all His attributes and actions.” It was also said: “He is the master to whom people turn for their needs.” Al-Suddi said: (4) “He is the One to whom people turn in their desires and whose aid they seek when calamities strike.” The Arabs say, “ṣamadtu fulānan aṣmiduhu ṣamdan”—with the mim unvowelled—when I seek someone; and the one who is sought is called ṣamad, with the mim bearing fathah. (5)

Qatadah said: “Al-Samad is He who remains after His creation has perished.” ‘Ikrimah said: “Al-Samad is He above whom there is no one,” and this was also the view of ‘Ali. Al-Rabi‘ said: “He whom no afflictions befall.” Muqatil ibn Hayyan said: “He in whom there is no defect.”

“He neither begets nor is born (3), and there is none comparable to Him (4).”

“He neither begets nor is born, and there is none comparable to Him.” Hamzah and Isma‘il recited kuf’an, with the fa’ unvowelled and with a hamzah; Hafs, from ‘Asim, recited it with the fa’ bearing dammah but without a hamzah; while the others recited it with the fa’ bearing dammah and with a hamzah. All of these are sound linguistic forms. Its meaning is “equal” or “like”; that is, none is equal to Him. (6)

It was also said that this involves an inversion of word order; its sense is: “There was no one equal to Him”—that is, like Him.