is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them until a Day when eyes will stare [in horror], racing ahead, their heads raised, their glance not returning to them, and their hearts void.}

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O Allah, forgive Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, encompass him with Your mercy, and make him among the foremost brought near in the Paradise of delight. For he was—so far as we knew—among those who made Your Book clear to the people and did not conceal it, nor did they sell it for a small price of the enjoyment of this worldly life; and among those who fulfilled what was required of Your right, defended the Sunna of Your Prophet, passed down to the Successors (Khalaf) after them the knowledge they possessed, entrusted them with the trust they carried, renounced rivals alongside You, disbelieved in the false deity, defended Your religion, protected Your Sharia, and reached You, O our Lord, while holding fast to Your covenant and preserving Your pledge, hoping for Your mercy and fearing Your punishment. So pardon us and them, O Allah, forgive us and them, have mercy on us and them; You are our Protector, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people.

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Abū Jaʿfar, May God be pleased with him, used to say: "Indeed, I marvel at one who reads the Qur'an and does not know its interpretation—how can he take pleasure in reading it?" Ever since Allah guided me to occupy myself with seeking knowledge, I have been a companion to Abū Jaʿfar in his two books: the book of Tafsir and the book of History. So I read his Tafsir in my youth and in my adulthood, and I never read it once without hearing his voice reaching me across the centuries: "Indeed, I marvel at one who reads the Qur'an and does not know its interpretation—how can he take pleasure in reading it?" Thus I found in his Tafsir the confirmation of His statement, May God be pleased with him.