I say:

This is the interpretation he presented first. However, al-Farrā’ and Ibn Kaysān understood “breaking away” as their abandoning and ceasing to mention him, the reports concerning him, and the glad tidings of his coming. In other words, they did not abandon or forsake what they knew of the reports concerning him until he appeared; then they broke away.

The other account says:

“They would not ‘break away’—that is, become divided—until the Messenger came, because they abandoned the reports concerning him that they possessed.”

This is the meaning of what Abū al-Faraj related:

“They did not disagree that Allah would send them a prophet until he was sent; then they became divided.”

Thus, “breaking away” means either their separating from one another or their abandoning the knowledge and reports they possessed concerning him. This interpretation is weak and is certainly not what is intended by this verse. Allah did not refer to the People of the Scripture as a whole; rather, He mentioned the disbelievers among the polytheists and the People of the Scripture. It is well known that the polytheists did not know him, mention him, or find him described in their scriptures as the People of the Scripture did. Nor had they been united upon a single religion before his mission, only to become divided when he came.

It is therefore impossible to say:

“The polytheists had not abandoned their knowledge of Muhammad, their mention of him, or their belief in him, nor had they disagreed or become divided over this, until he was sent.”

This meaning is false with regard to the polytheists. Nor does it hold true of the People of the Scripture, for Allah mentioned only the disbelievers among them, saying:

“It was not the case that those who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture