than the kasrah (i-vowel), and the kasrah is stronger than the fathah (a-vowel). Thus, the dammah is assigned to the stronger meaning, as in kurh and karh. Kurh denotes something disliked, as in His saying:

“Fighting has been prescribed for you, though it is hateful to you.”

Karh is the verbal noun, as in His saying:

“Willingly or unwillingly.”

Something that is itself disliked is stronger in meaning than the mere dislike felt by the one who dislikes it. The same applies to dhibh and dhabh. Dhibh denotes what is slaughtered, as in His saying:

“And We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice.”

Dhabh denotes the act of slaughtering. A dhibh is something slaughtered—a body subjected to slaughter—and is thus more complete than the act alone.

Abū al-Faraj said:

“The second interpretation is that the meaning is: ‘I do not worship what you worship’ in my present state; ‘nor are you,’ in your present state, ‘worshippers of what I worship’; and ‘nor will I worship what you have worshipped’ in the future. The same applies to ‘you.’ Thus, he denies this of them both in the present and in the future. This concerns particular people whom Allah informed him would not believe, as we have related from Muqātil. On this interpretation, therefore, there is no repetition.”

He said: “This is the view of Tha‘lab and al-Zajjāj.”

I say: A number of scholars have mentioned both interpretations, but some have attributed the first interpretation to most scholars concerned with the meanings of the Quran.

They said—the wording is al-Baghawī’s:

“The verse means: I do not worship what you worship at present, nor will I worship what you have worshipped in the future