they know that it is the truth from their Lord"—that this parable is the truth from their Lord, and that it is the speech of Allah and from Him (1).

565- And as Bishr ibn Muʿādh narrated to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ narrated to us, from Saʿīd, from Qatāda regarding His statement, "As for those who have believed, they know that it is the truth from their Lord": That is, they know that it is the speech of the Most Compassionate, and that it is the truth from Allah (2).

"But as for those who disbelieve, they say, 'What did Allah intend by this as a parable?'"

Abū Jaʿfar said: His statement, "But as for those who disbelieve," means those who rejected the signs of Allah, denied what they knew, and concealed what they knew to be true. That is the description of the hypocrites, and them Allah, Mighty and Majestic, intended—along with those like them and their counterparts among the polytheists from the People of the Book and others—by this verse. So they say: "What did Allah intend by this as a parable?" just as we mentioned before from the report that we narrated from Mujāhid, which:

566- Muḥammad narrated to us from ʿAmr, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim narrated to us, from ʿĪsā, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: "As for those who have believed, they know that it is the truth from their Lord"—the verse. He said: The believers believe in it and know that it is the truth from their Lord, and Allah guides them by it, while the transgressors are led astray by it. He says: The believers recognize it and believe in it, while the transgressors recognize it and disbelieve in it (3).

And the interpretation of His statement, "What did Allah intend by this as a parable?" is: What is it that Allah intended by this parable as an example? So dhā, which accompanies mā, is in the sense of "which" (alladhī), and arāda is its relative clause (ṣila), while "this" (hādhā) is a pointer to the parable (4).

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