"Those whom they call upon seek the means of approach to their Lord," meaning: closeness. The interpretation of Ibn Mas'ud: He said: It was revealed regarding a group of Arabs who used to worship a group of the Jinn, then the Jinn accepted Islam, but those Arabs were unaware of that. God said: "Those whom they call upon," meaning: the Jinn who are worshipped, "seek the means of approach to their Lord, which of them is nearer," to the end of the verse.
Muhammad said: "Which of them is nearer," (which) is in the nominative case as an initial subject (mubtada'), and the predicate is (nearer). The meaning is: They seek the means of approach to their Lord and observe which of them is nearer to Him; meaning: through righteous deeds, they are nearer to Him and seek approach through him.
﴿أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبهم الْوَسِيلَة﴾ يَعْنِي: الْقُرْبَةَ، تَفْسِيرُ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ: قَالَ: نَزَلَتْ فِي نَفَرٍ مِنَ الْعَرَبِ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ نَفَرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ، فَأَسْلَمَ الْجِنِّيُّونَ وَلَمْ يُعْلَمْ بِذَلِكَ النَّفَرُ مِنَ الْعَرَبِ، قَالَ الله: ﴿أُولَئِكَ الَّذين يدعونَ﴾ يَعْنِي: الْجِنِّيِّينَ الَّذِي يُعْبَدُونَ هَؤُلَاءِ ﴿يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أقرب﴾ الْآيَةُ.
قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ: (أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ) (أَيهمْ) رفع بِالِابْتِدَاءِ، وَالْخَبَر (أقرب) الْمَعْنَى: يَطْلُبُونَ الْوَسِيلَةَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ، وَيَنْظُرُونَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ؛ أَيْ: بِالْأَعْمَالِ الصَّالِحَةِ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ يَتَوَسَّلُونَ بِهِ.
