yaṣīru ṣayran when one cuts, and a thing is said to inṣāra inṣiyāran when it is cut apart.

Al-Farrā’ said: It is a transposition of ṣaraytu aṣrī ṣaryan, meaning, “I cut.” The other reciters read faṣurhunna with a ḍammah on the ṣād, meaning: incline them towards yourself and direct them. One says, ṣirtu al-shay’a uṣawwiruhu, when I incline it; and a man is called aṣwar when his neck is inclined. ‘Aṭā’ said: Its meaning is: gather them and draw them close to yourself. One says, ṣāra yuṣawwiru ṣawran, when something comes together; hence a swarm of bees is called a ṣawr. Those who explain it as inclining and drawing close say that an ellipsis is understood: “Draw them close to yourself, then cut them up.” This is omitted because His words, “Then place a portion of them upon every mountain,” indicate it. Abū ‘Ubaydah said: faṣurhunna likewise means, “Cut them up”; ṣawr also means cutting.

His saying, exalted is He: “Then place a portion of them upon every mountain.” ‘Āṣim, through the transmission of Abū Bakr, read juz’an with a geminated zāy and a hamzah. The others read it with an ungeminated zāy and a hamzah. Abū Ja‘far read it with a geminated zāy and without a hamzah, intending thereby some of the mountains.

Some exegetes said: Allah commanded Abraham to slaughter those birds, pluck their feathers, cut them up, and mix together their feathers, blood, and flesh. He did so, and Allah then commanded him to place their portions upon the mountains.

They differed concerning the number of portions and mountains. Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with him, and Qatādah said: He was commanded to divide each bird into four portions and place them upon four mountains, putting one quarter of each bird on every mountain. It was said: one mountain lay to the east, one to the west, one to the north, and one to the south.

Ibn Jurayj and al-Suddī said: He divided them into seven portions and placed them on seven mountains, while retaining their heads. Then he called to them: 47/A “Come by the permission of Allah Most High.” Each drop of a bird’s blood flew to its corresponding drop, each feather to its corresponding feather, each bone joined its corresponding bone, and each piece of flesh joined the other. Abraham watched until each headless body was reunited with its other parts in the air. Then they hastened towards their heads. Whenever a bird came, it inclined its head; if it was its own head, it drew near to it, and if it was not, it withdrew, until every bird was reunited with its head. This is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: “Then call them; they will come to you swiftly.”

It was said that hastening here means moving quickly and running. It was also said that it means walking rather than flying, just as Allah Most High says: “Then proceed to the remembrance of Allah” (62:9), meaning: go forth. The wisdom in their walking rather than flying was that this would leave less room for doubt; for had they flown, someone might imagine that they were birds other than those birds, and that their legs were not intact. And Allah knows best. It was also said that hastening here means flying. “And know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.”

“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like that of a grain which sprouts seven ears, with a hundred grains in every ear. Allah multiplies for whomever He wills, and Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing” (2:261).

His saying, exalted is He: “The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah”: there is an ellipsis in it. Its intended sense is: the example of the charities of those who spend their wealth is like the example of a sower of a grain. By “the way of Allah,” He means jihad; and it was also said that it means all avenues of goodness. “Which sprouts”—