394- Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa narrated to us, from Shibl, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: "Their parable is as the parable of one who kindled a fire; then, when it illuminated what was around him" — as for the fire's illumination, it is their turning toward the believers and guidance; and the going away of their light is their turning toward the disbelievers and misguidance.

395- Al-Qāsim narrated to me, he said: Al-Ḥusayn narrated to me, he said: Ḥajjāj narrated to me, from Ibn Jurayj, from Mujāhid, the like of it.

396- Al-Muthannā narrated to me, he said: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar, from his father, from al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: He struck the parable of the people of hypocrisy (nifāq), saying: "Their parable is as the parable of one who kindled a fire." He said: The brightness and light of the fire exist only as long as it burns; when it goes out, its light goes away. Likewise the hypocrite: whenever he speaks the word of sincerity, it illuminates for him, but when he doubts, he falls into darkness.

397- Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd narrated to me concerning His statement: "as the parable of one who kindled a fire" to the end of the verse, he said: This is the description of the hypocrites. They had believed until faith (īmān) shone in their hearts, just as the fire shone for those who kindled it, then they disbelieved, so Allah took away their light and stripped it away, just as He took away the brightness of this fire, leaving them in darknesses, unable to see (1).

And the most proper interpretation (ta'wīl) of the verse is what Qatāda and al-Ḍaḥḥāk said, and what ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās. That is because Allah—exalted be His praise—only struck this parable for the hypocrites—whose description He described and whose stories He recounted, starting from where He began mentioning them in His statement: {And of the people are some who say, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," but they are not believers}—not those who publicly manifest disbelief (kufr) and openly declare