faith, and Abraham would say: “Keep me and my sons away from worshipping idols.” (Ibrahim, 35) “I will surely be among the people who are astray”—that is, astray from guidance.

“When he saw the sun rising, he said, ‘This is my Lord; this is greater.’” That is, greater than the star and the moon. He used the masculine demonstrative rather than the feminine, although the word “sun” is grammatically feminine in Arabic, because he meant this rising celestial body; or because he referred to its meaning, namely brightness and light, since he saw it as more luminous than the stars and the moon. “But when it set”—that is, when it went down—“he said, ‘O my people, I am free of whatever you associate with Allah.’”

“And his people argued with him. He said, ‘Do you argue with me concerning Allah, while He has guided me? I do not fear what you associate with Him, unless my Lord wills something. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge. Will you not then take heed? (80) How could I fear what you associate with Allah, while you do not fear having associated with Allah that for which He has sent down no authority to you? Which of the two groups, then, is more entitled to security, if you only knew? (81)’”

The words of Allah, exalted is He: “And his people argued with him. He said, ‘Do you argue with me concerning Allah, while He has guided me?’” When Abraham, peace be upon him, returned to his father and had reached an age at which the slaughterers had given up pursuing him, Azar took him into his care. Azar would make idols and give them to Abraham to sell. So [Abraham, peace be upon him,] (1) would take them and call out, “Who will buy that which harms him and does not benefit him?” But no one would buy them. When they remained unsold, he would take them to a river and [strike] (2) their heads into it, saying, “Drink!”—mocking his people and the misguidance in which they were steeped. His mockery of them became widespread among his people [and the people] (3) of his town. Thus his people argued with him—that is, they disputed and debated with him concerning his religion.

“Do you argue with me concerning Allah?” The reciters of Madinah and Ibn Amir read it with a light nūn, whereas the others read it with a doubled nūn, assimilating one nūn into the other. Those who read it lightly omit one of the two nūns for ease of pronunciation. That is, “Do you dispute with me concerning the oneness of Allah, when He has guided me to monotheism and the truth?”

“And I do not fear what you associate with Him.” This was because they said to him, “Beware of the idols, for we fear that, because you have disparaged them, they may afflict you with some evil, such as mental derangement or madness.” He replied, “And I do not fear what you associate with Him, unless my Lord wills something.” This is not an exception to what came before; rather, it is a disconnected exception. Its meaning is: But if my Lord wills something—that is, some harm—then what He wills comes to pass. “My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge”—that is, His knowledge encompasses everything. “Will you not then take heed?”