He also said:

The following is an explanation of verses that have proved difficult to understand, so much so that some books of Quranic commentary contain only mistaken interpretations of them.

Among them are His words:

“With which of you is the afflicted one?”

Many have been perplexed by this verse, but the correct interpretation is that transmitted from the early generations.

Mujāhid said: “Satan.” Al-Hasan said: “They have more claim to Satan’s company than Allah’s Prophet does.” He thus clarified the intended meaning, commenting on the wording in the manner customary among the early generations: concisely, yet with eloquence and understanding of the meaning.

Al-Dahhāk said: “The madman.” For someone possessed by Satan suffers from madness. Al-Hasan is also reported to have said: “The misguided one.” This is because, by calling him a madman, they did not mean someone who tears his clothes and babbles. Rather, they meant that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, opposed those whom they considered sensible, just as people say, “So-and-so has no sense.”

They levelled similar accusations against the followers of the prophets, as in His words:

“And when they saw them, they would say, ‘These people are truly astray.’”

The like occurs frequently within this community: people ridicule the believers and accuse them of madness and heinous things of which they themselves are more deserving of being accused.

Al-Hasan said: “I have indeed seen men whom, had you seen them, you would have called mad. Yet had they seen you, they would have said, ‘These are devils.’ Had they seen the best of you, they would have said, ‘These have no share of good.’ Had they seen the worst of you, they would have said, ‘These are people who do not believe