and from Murra, from Ibn Masʿūd, and from some people among the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him: "He extends them," He grants them respite.

And others said what—

365- Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr narrated to us, from Ibn al-Mubārak, from Ibn Jurayj reading from Mujāhid: "He extends them," he said: He increases them (1).

And some of the grammarians of Basra interpreted that to mean: He gives them respite, claiming that this is similar to the speech of the Arabs: "the boy plays knuckles," meaning "plays with knuckles." He said: That is because they may say: "I extended for him" (madadtu lahu) and "I assisted him" (amdadtu lahu) in a sense other than this, which is the statement of God, exalted be His mention: {And We supplied them} [Sūrat al-Ṭūr: 22], and this is from "We extended them" (madadnāhum) (2). He said: And it is said: "The sea surged (madda), so it is surging (mādd)," and "The wound became purulent (amadda), so it is purulent (mumidd)." And it was related from Yūnus al-Jarmī that he used to say: Whatever is of evil, it is "madadtu" (I extended), and whatever is of good, it is "amdadtu" (I supplied). Then he said: And it is as I explained to you: if you mean that you left him, it is "madadtu lahu" (I granted him respite), and if you mean that you gave him, you say "amdadtu" (I supplied).

As for some of the grammarians of Kufa, he used to say: Every increase that occurs in a thing from itself is "madadtu" without an alif, as you say: "The river extended, and another river extended it," when it connects to it and becomes part of it. And every increase caused in a thing from something else is with an alif, such as your saying: "The wound generated pus (amadda)," because the pus is from outside the wound, and "I reinforced the army with reinforcements (amdadtu)."

And the most correct of these views concerning His statement: "and He extends them" is that it means He increases them, by way of granting respite and leaving them in their insolence and rebellion, just as our Lord described that He did with their counterparts in His statement: